UCLA
San Jose State
No. 2 UCLA Baseball Falls to San Jose State, 5-3
February 26, 2011 | Baseball
Feb. 26, 2011
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LOS ANGELES - The No. 2 UCLA baseball team dropped a 5-3 decision to San Jose State on Saturday afternoon, snapping the team's four-game season-opening win streak. San Jose State scored two runs in each of the fourth and fifth innings to claim a 4-1 lead and never trailed the rest of the game.
San Jose State left-hander Roberto Padilla (2-0) earned the victory in a complete game effort, limiting UCLA to three runs and five hits in nine innings. He recorded five strikeouts and walked four batters in his second start of the year.
UCLA right-hander Trevor Bauer (1-1) absorbed the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) and eight hits in 6.2 innings. Bauer logged six strikeouts and issued two walks in his second start of the season.
San Jose State was led by Michael DiRocco, who went 2-for-4 with one double, one RBI and one run. Craig Hertler belted a two-run home run in a 1-for-4 effort. The Bruins received one hit and one RBI each from Dean Espy (1-for-3) and Pat Valaika (1-for-4).
UCLA claimed its only lead of the day in the second inning. With two outs, Chris Giovinazzo reached on a triple inside the right-field line before Cody Regis drew a full count walk. After Regis stole second base, Valaika scored Giovinazzo from third on a bunt single to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
San Jose State claimed a 4-1 advantage with two runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Jake Valdez and Zach Jones led off the fourth with consecutive singles before advancing to third and second base, respectively, on a wild pitch. A groundout by Danny Stienstra scored Valdez, before a fielding error on a grounder to Espy allowed Jones to score.
SJSU's two runs in the top of the fifth came on Hertler's two-out, two-run homer. DiRocco lined a two-out single to center field, moved to second base on a balk and scored on Hertler's ensuing homer.
The Bruins scored one pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, reducing the Spartans' lead to 4-3. Steve Rodriguez led off with a bloop infield single and advanced to third on a one-out double to center field by Beau Amaral. A groundout by Tyler Rahmatulla scored Rodriguez, and a two-out single to right field by Espy sent home Amaral.
San Jose State added its fifth run of the afternoon in the top of the seventh inning, pushing its advantage to 5-3. Tyler Christian lined a double to the gap in right-center field before scoring on a two-out double to left-center by DiRocco.
The first run of the game by San Jose State in the top of the fourth inning snapped UCLA's streak of 39.0 consecutive innings without having allowed an earned run this season.
UCLA and San Jose State will resume Friday's suspended game in the top of the second inning on Sunday at 12 p.m. Following that contest, both teams will play the third and final game of the series at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Game Notes: UCLA's game on Saturday was pushed back from its previous start time of 2 p.m. due to heavy overnight rain ... Trevor Bauer pushed his career strikeout total to 273, fifth on the school's all-time list (one behind Gary Robson's 274-strikeout total) ... Saturday's loss marked the first game this season in which UCLA was out-hit by its opponent ... Chris Giovinazzo logged his team-leading sixth career triple ... Mitchell Beacom struck out one batter in one innings of scoreless relief ... Zack Weiss recorded one strikeout in 1.1 innings of hitless relief ... redshirt freshman Matt Giovinazzo made his first collegiate appearance, pinch-hitting in the ninth inning.
