UCLA
Cal State Fullerton
UCLA Falls to Cal State Fullerton, 4-3, in Game 1 of Super Regional
June 12, 2010 | Baseball
June 11, 2010
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LOS ANGELES - The UCLA baseball team dropped a 4-3 decision to Cal State Fullerton in Game 1 of a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional series before 2,077 at Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Friday night. Both teams continue the series Saturday at 4 p.m. (PT) at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Cal State Fullerton right-hander Noe Ramirez earned the victory, registering 13 strikeouts and issuing two walks in seven-plus innings. Ramirez (12-1) limited the Bruins to one run and five hits, retiring 10 consecutive hitters midway through the contest.
UCLA right-hander Gerrit Cole absorbed the loss, surrendering four runs and five hits in 6.2 innings. Cole (10-3) notched seven strikeouts, pushing his season strikeout total to 138, the third-highest single-season strikeout total in program history.
Left-hander Matt Grace and right-hander Erik Goeddel combined to strike out three batters in 2.1 scoreless innings of relief for UCLA (46-14).
Cal State Fullerton (46-16) was led at the plate by shortstop Christian Colon, who went 2-for-5 with one solo home run. Right fielder Tyler Pill went 2-for-4 with one run, and first baseman Nick Ramirez went 1-for-4 with a two-run single before recording his team-leading 11th save in the ninth inning.
Bruins' second baseman Tyler Rahmatulla went 2-for-5 at the plate with one double, one run and one RBI. Designated hitter Blair Dunlap also went 2-for-5, while center fielder Beau Amaral went 1-for-4 with one run and one walk.
UCLA claimed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Amaral led off the frame with a double to left-center field on the first pitch of his at-bat. With one out, Rahmatulla lined a run-scoring double off the right-center field wall, allowing Amaral to score from second base.
Cal State Fullerton scored three runs in the top of the fourth to assume a 3-1 cushion. After opening the inning with a walk and hit-by-pitch, the Titans loaded the bases on a bloop single to shallow right center by Pill. Ramirez followed with a two-run single to center field before designated hitter Carlos Lopez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Pill from third base.
A solo homer to left field by Colon in the top of the fifth handed the Titans a 4-1 advantage.
The Bruins trimmed Cal State Fullerton's margin to 4-3 with two runs in the eighth inning. Rahmatulla opened the inning with a double and moved to third base on a throwing error. After pinch-hitter Justin Uribe reached on a hit-by-pitch, Rahmatulla scored on a fielder's choice bounced back to right-hander Raymond Hernandez, who overthrew the catcher. Uribe scored later in the frame on a two-out infield single by shortstop Niko Gallego.
UCLA closed the game stranding the tying run at third base in the ninth. Amaral drew a walk to open the inning and moved to second on a single to center by Dunlap. A wild pitch pushed Amaral to third. With Rahmatulla at the plate, Dunlap was caught in a pickle attempting to steal second base. The Bruins could not get Amaral home in the ninth inning, as Rahmatulla struck out and pinch-hitter Chris Giovinazzo grounded out to shortstop to end the game.
Game 2 on Saturday begins at 4 p.m. (PT). Saturday's game will be televised live on ESPN2 and will also feature a live video stream on ESPN3.com. Fans can listen to UCLA's audio broadcast, free of charge, at uclabruins.com
Game Notes: Gerrit Cole moved into third place on the Bruins' single-season strikeouts list (138), moving past Rob Henkel's 136-strikeout total from 2000 ... Matt Grace notched two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of relief, including one strikeout after entering the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning ... Erik Goeddel had one strikeout in a perfect ninth inning for UCLA ... Noe Ramirez recorded more strikeouts against the Bruins than any pitcher since Erik Davis of Stanford logged 13 strikeouts on April 19, 2008 ... UCLA will start right-hander Trevor Bauer and Cal State Fullerton will send right-hander Dan Renken to the mound for Game 2 on Saturday at 4 p.m.
