University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Georgia Tech
Bruins Take Two Out of Three From #2 Georgia Tech
June 21, 1999 | Baseball
February 7, 1999
LOS ANGELES - Sophomore right-hander Jon Brandt and junior right-hander Dan Keller combined to toss a six-hitter at the visiting #2 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-4), as the Bruins won 6-1 on a foggy Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
#16 UCLA (4-5) pounded out six runs on eight hits, including seventh inning homers by sophomores Chase Utley and Bill Scott off Tech reliever Justin Thompson. Brandt and Keller were aided by a defense that posted it's second straight errorless game. Utley homered for the second time in as many games, and Scott blasted the first homerun of his sophomore campaign. With the victory, UCLA takes two out of three from the Yellow Jackets for the second year in a row.
The contest's first six innings was a pitcher's duel between Brandt (2-0) and sophomore lefty Simon Young (1-1). The Bruins used single-run innings in the fourth, fifth, and sixth to pull ahead for good, 3-1. The solo shot by 2b Utley and the two-run homer by lf Scott ended the scoring, putting the Bruins out of reach. Dan Keller, making only his second appearance and first in relief since the NCAA Tournament in May of '97, shut down any hopes of a Georgia Tech comeback in allowing just three hits and no walks over three innings of work. Keller earned his second collegiate save and the first since his freshman year of 1996. The UCLA defense put together it's second consecutive error-free game with solid defensive performances by senior ss Jack Santora, sophomore 1b Garrett Atkins, sophomore cf Matt Pearl, and Utley. In the fifth inning, Brandt escaped from a bases-loaded, one-out jam by forcing Tech's clean-up hitter, c Eric McQueen, to hit into a 6-4-3 double play executed flawlessly by Santora, Utley, and Atkins. Overall, the Yellow Jackets left ten men on base, including four at third base.
Next up for the Bruins is a date with the UCSB Gauchos in Santa Barbara on February 9 at 2pm. Sophomore left-hander Ryan Carter (0-1, 4.15) will climb the hill against a Gaucho to be named. It is the first of a two-game series that concludes on Feb. 16 at 2pm in Santa Barbara. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, returns home to play the Georgia Southern Eagles on February 13 and 14th.
