UCLA
TCU
UCLA Baseball Falls To TCU, 6-2, In College World Series
June 25, 2010 | Baseball
June 25, 2010
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OMAHA, Neb. - The UCLA baseball team lost to TCU, 6-2, on Friday afternoon before 22,334 at Rosenblatt Stadium, forcing a decisive rematch on Saturday for a berth in the College World Series' best-of-three championship series.
TCU left-hander Matt Purke (16-0) earned the victory after retiring UCLA's first 11 batters in order, and the Bruins (50-15) fell behind for the first time in the Series, trailing by a 3-0 margin in the fifth inning.
UCLA chased Purke in the seventh inning, scoring one run in each of the fifth and seventh innings to close the gap to 3-2. Home runs by TCU's Taylor Featherson and Bryan Holaday in the seventh and eighth innings put the Horned Frogs ahead by four runs.
Purke remained undefeated on the year after pitching 6.1 innings and allowing two runs on three hits.
Junior left-hander Rob Rasmussen (11-3), absorbed his third loss of the year, surrendering three runs on six hits in 4.1 innings. Senior right-hander Garett Claypool gave up three runs on three hits in 3.2 innings of relief.
"We still feel like we're in a very good position," UCLA head coach John Savage said. "It's all about one game now, and we have plenty of arms who are capable of doing what they need to do. We feel very comfortable where we're at."
Second baseman Cody Regis was the lone Bruin to record multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with one run and extending his hitting streak to a season-best 11 games. Regis lifted his batting average in nine postseason games to a .361 mark, the second-highest clip on the team in that span.
The Horned Frogs (54-13) got on the board in the first inning after Featherston drew a bases-loaded walk. Josh Elander followed wit ha shallow line drive to center field, but UCLA's Beau Amaral made a diving catch to end the frame. Jerome Pena had a run-scoring single in the second inning before connecting for a solo homer in the fourth, pushing TCU's cushion to 3-0.
UCLA got on the board in the top of the fifth inning. After Chris Giovinazzo bunted for a base hit and advanced to second on a groundout by Justin Uribe, Brett Krill bounced a two-out single to center field, scoring Giovinazzo and trimming the Bruins' deficit to 3-1.
The Bruins continued to chip away in the top of the seventh, chasing Purke, who was relieved by Tyler Lockwood, before loading the bases with two out. Niko Gallego hit a chopper to third, and Jeff Gelalich barely beat third baseman Jantzen Witte to the bag on a fielder's choice, allowing Cody Regis to score and cut TCU's lead to 3-2.
A two-run homer by Featherston in the seventh and a solo shot by Holaday in the eighth extended TCU's lead to four runs, forcing Saturday's decisive game for a spot in the best-of-three Championship Series.
UCLA and TCU will play on Saturday at 11 a.m. PT/1 p.m. CT at Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium. The Bruins will send right-hander Trevor Bauer to the mound against TCU. The winner of that game advances to the best-of-three championship series and will play the winner of Saturday night's game between South Carolina and Clemson (4 p.m. PT/6 p.m. CT start).
Game Notes: Senior right-hander Garett Claypool entered Friday's ballgame having pitched in 204.0 career innings at UCLA - he made his first-ever postseason appearance when entering in relief in the fifth inning ... with six strikeouts, junior Rob Rasmussen moved into sixth place on UCLA's single-season strikeouts list with 122 ... Cody Regis registered his 13th multiple-hit game of the season.
