A blown save nearly cost the Bruins their Friday series opener.

But the bats stormed back for a walk-off victory.

On Saturday, the Bruins’ hitters stayed hot – giving the team’s pitching staff little to worry about – and the hurlers upheld their end of the bargain anyway.

No. 15 UCLA baseball (31-11, 15-5 Big Ten) clinched its 10th weekend series of the season with a 9-1 win over Penn State (25-16, 12-11) on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium after winning Friday’s contest 7-6.

“You can make the case that certainly should have been a shutout,” said coach John Savage. “It’s unfortunate, but that’s baseball. We pitched well. We threw strikes. We pounded the glove. I was proud of our guys.”

Redshirt senior AJ Salgado spearheaded the Bruins’ offensive surge. The center fielder ripped his fourth triple of the year – tying his career high as a Bruin – before redshirt sophomore designated hitter Payton Brennan brought him home with an RBI single to right in the bottom of the second, putting the Bruins on the board first for just the 15th time this year.

Salgado finished a single shy of the cycle after his 3-for-4, 3-RBI day – notably notching his second two-run homer in as many days.

“Just sticking with the approach, like coach Ward (assistant coach Bryant Ward) was talking to us about,” Salgado said. “Just trying to hit the ball hard and in play.”

The Bruin offense seemingly had no issues doing just that. The Nittany Lions caught at least five flyouts on the warning track, while Brennan and sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky joined Salgado in leaving the ballpark.

“He’s (Salgado has) got impressive tools, and they’re starting to show up,” Savage said. “He’s doing the things we thought he could do.”

Salgado transferred to UCLA from Cal State Los Angeles after posting a .981 OPS in 2022. An injury-riddled campaign in 2023 limited the former Golden Eagle third baseman to a .667 OPS in his first year as a Bruin, but Salgado had a solid .784 mark in 2024 – and Savage said in May he wouldn’t have been surprised if he heard the then-redshirt junior’s name called in last summer’s MLB Draft.

After going undrafted, Salgado returned to Westwood for his final collegiate campaign, currently sporting an OPS of 1.084 – sitting behind only Cholowsky for the team lead.

Coincidentally, Brennan missed his first year at UCLA because of injury and posted a .716 OPS last season, mainly as a platoon option. While the redshirt sophomore has missed time with both a shoulder injury and hamstring strain this season, Brennan has received consistent playing time when healthy and is currently slashing .301/.385/.524 across 117 plate appearances.

And Saturday, in Brennan’s first game back since April 6 because of that aforementioned hamstring strain, the designated hitter went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

On the flipside, the Nittany Lions seemingly could not get their engines roaring, going 1-for-12 with runners on base and 1-for-6 with a runner in scoring position, with that lone hit coming in the ninth to break up the Bruins’ chances of their first combined shutout of 2025.

Junior Michael Barnett recorded his first quality start since March 22, possibly turning the corner after posting a 7.02 ERA across his previous four outings. The right-hander tossed a season-high 93 pitches across six shutout innings, allowing just five hits, walking none and striking out five.

“I was in a rhythm today,” Barnett said. “Me and coach Savage had it working pretty well, just attacking the zone, getting back to my strengths, throwing strikes, … just trusting it.”

The Bruin bullpen would follow Barnett’s lead, as three relievers combined for three shutout innings – surrendering just two hits and a run.

“I was proud of our guys,” Savage said. “It was a complete win.”

The Bruins will have a chance at their first sweep since March 30 on Sunday when they send sophomore right-hander Landon Stump to the mound, where he could rebound after allowing six runs across just 3.2 innings pitched last week against Oregon.

The Nittany Lions will give the ball to left-hander Logan Olson, who has a 7.53 ERA across six starts this season, averaging just over 2.1 innings pitched per outing.

First pitch in the series finale is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday.