For the fourth time this season, the Bruins will have to prove it’s not how they start the weekend that matters – it’s how they finish.

In its first conference defeat since March 21 and second loss in the past three games, No. 10 UCLA baseball (26-7, 10-3 Big Ten) fell to Washington (18-17, 9-4) by 5-2 on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

“They outplayed us in every way. I thought they outpitched us, and I thought they really did a good job offensively,” said coach John Savage. “It felt like we were behind things.”

With junior right-hander Cody Delvecchio academically ineligible, Savage tapped freshman right-hander Wylan Moss for his second consecutive Friday night start. Moss found himself in a bases-loaded jam in the first, but he kept the Huskies off the board and went on to pitch five innings of two-run ball – only one of which was earned.

“Especially as a starter, you need to be able to catch your breath and go pitch to pitch,” Moss said. “You need to be able to focus on the next pitch.”

The freshman also struck out four Huskies – an improvement from the one punch-out he tallied across four innings April 4 against San Diego.

In the bottom of the first, sophomore third baseman Roman Martin ripped a single to left center – a hit that seemingly should’ve scored sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky from second base.

But Husky center fielder – and former Bruin – Malakhi Knight fired a frozen rope to nail Cholowsky at the plate. Notably, the shortstop didn’t slide, despite on-deck hitter redshirt senior right fielder AJ Salgado’s repeated signals.

With runners at the corners in the top of the second, the Huskies pulled off a successful double steal as sophomore second baseman Phoenix Call’s throw back to the plate skipped wide of sophomore catcher Cashel Dugger, allowing Washington right fielder Jackson Hotchkiss to score and third baseman Blake Wilson to take third – meaning UCLA would fail to score first for the 20th time this season.

Washington would then add another run on second baseman Trevor Kole’s RBI groundout.

However, the Bruins would respond in the bottom half of the third with Martin delivering his second hit of the evening, a two-RBI single to left, to tie the ballgame. Martin’s knock scored Call from third and sophomore left fielder Dean West – who had three hits Friday – from second.

“I knew we had a base open, so they were going to be pitching me a little difficult with two outs,” Martin said. “I was sitting cutter there, and I got exactly what I wanted first pitch.”

Sophomore right-hander Cal Randall took the mound in the sixth but would only face two batters, striking out one and walking the other before being replaced by graduate student right-hander August Souza.

Inheriting Randall’s runner at first, Souza allowed the Huskies to retake the lead, permitting three to cross the plate in his 29-pitch outing.

“Souza’s a ground ball guy,” Savage said. “We didn’t get the ground ball we wanted there, and it clearly backfired.”

Despite two perfect innings from redshirt sophomore southpaw Chris Grothues – who made his first appearance since March 7 after sustaining a minor knee injury – the Bruins would fail to rally back from the three-run deficit, only recording three hits across the final six innings of play.

The Bruins left 11 runners on base and struck out 12 times – going 3-for-20 with runners on, 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and 2-for-11 with two outs.

“We got to be better than we were tonight,” Savage said. “We got to have more edge. We got to have more awareness. I thought we were mentally a little sloppy.”

While four of UCLA’s seven losses have come on Fridays, it responded the previous three times with victories each following Saturday. The Bruins will have a chance to do it a fourth time when they send junior right-hander Michael Barnett to the mound Saturday to face Husky right-hander Jackson Thomas.

“We know we’re never out of a game and especially never out of a series,” Martin said. “Having trust in each other has been big for us.”