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UCLA Baseball Squanders Lead, Falls to Cal State Northridge 12-9
April 16, 2000 | Baseball
April 16, 2000
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The 17th-ranked UCLA baseball team squandered a 9-6 lead, surrendering four unearned runs in the top of the eighth, as Cal State Northridge came back to defeat the Bruins 12-9 in the weekend series finale at Jackie Robinson Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The Matadors took the series, winning both yesterday and today's contests. UCLA falls to 24-15 overall and remains 7-2 in the Pac-10, while CSUN improves to 15-24 overall. With the score knotted at six apiece in the bottom of the sixth inning, junior outfielder Matt Pearl hit a three-run home run just under the scoreboard in right center to give UCLA a 9-6 lead.
But Cal State Northridge took advantage of two errors by Bruin junior shortstop Josh Canales and a wild pitch by junior reliever Tyler Dersom in the top of the eighth inning to take the lead for good. CSUN center fielder Bill Murphy led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on Canales' first error, before scoring on the wild pitch by Dersom who had just come on in relief of junior Paul Diaz.
Dersom then got CSUN shortstop J.T. Stotts to strike out swinging, before UCLA center fielder Charles Merricks moved to the mound, making his pitching debut. Matador left fielder Tim Arroyo then hit the ball sharply back to Merricks who retired the him at first, an out which would have been the third of the inning.
The Bruins went back to the bullpen with two outs and a runner on first for freshman right-hander Kevin Jerkens who promptly gave up a game-tying two-run home run by CSUN designated hitter Aaron McKenzie. Second baseman Bobby Koba followed with a base hit and advanced to second on another error by Canales, before catcher Brandon Thompson knocked in the go-ahead run with a single to left field.
Merricks then moved back to the mound and retired pinch-hitter Adrian Mendoza to end the inning. Cal State Northridge added two additional runs in the ninth inning on an RBI single by McKenzie and a wild pitch by freshman reliever Wade Clark scoring Stotts from third.
UCLA came back from a 2-1 deficit and scored three in the bottom of the third on a three-run home run by junior left-fielder Bill Scott. CSUN closed the gap to 4-3 with a run in the top of the fourth, yet UCLA pulled away 6-3 on a two-run shot by junior second baseman Chase Utley in the bottom of the inning. The Matadors then posted three runs in the fifth to tie the score, before Pearl gave the Bruins the 9-6 lead with the three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.
Jerkens (1-1) suffered the loss for UCLA, while reliever Steve Busby (1-0) picked up the victory.
UCLA now begins a streak of nine games in the next 14 days, beginning at USC Tuesday, April 18 with the first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m. at Dedeaux Field. The game is a make-up for an earlier non-conference rainout in February.
Cal State Northridge 110 130 042 12 14 1 UCLA Bruins 103 203 000 9 15 4WP - Steve Busby (1-0). LP - Kevin Jerkens (1-1). Save - None 2B - Bobby Koba, Jason Gorman, Bill Murphy, Aldo Pinto, Freddie Mitchell. HR - Tim Arroyo (4), Aaron McKenzie (5), Brandon Thompson (2), Matt Pearl (3), Chase Utley (13) Bill Scott (14). SB - Chase Utley SH - J.T. Stotts, Josh Canales Start: 1:04 p.m. Time: 3:11 Attendance: 531
