ORLANDO, FLA. – The No. 11 UCLA Bruins defeated the No. 17 North Carolina Tar Heels, 12-4, on Sunday afternoon at Jay Bergman Field. The win clinched a 2-1 series victory for the Bruins and moves their overall record to 6-1.
Junior Cody Poteet (2-0) went five innings, allowing two runs and striking out three to earn the win. Freshman J.B. Bukauskas (1-1) garnered the loss after allowing six runs in his four and two-thirds innings.
The offense was on point again for UCLA, totaling 16 hits and 12 runs, marking the sixth time in seven games that the Bruins have reached double-digit hits. The top four batters in the lineup (Kevin Kramer, Luke Persico, Ty Moore and Chris Keck) wreaked havoc, combining for 11 hits and seven RBIs. Kramer's four hits (4-for-5) were a new single game career-high for the junior shortstop.
UCLA got the offense rolling in the third inning when the top-four strung together four consecutive hits to put three runs on the board. Kramer, Persico and Moore singled before Chris
Keck capped it off with a two-RBI double down into the left field corner.
Up 3-0, the Bruins added three more in the fifth to gain a six-run advantage. Kort Peterson hit a long double off of the top of the right field fence to plate one and Sean Bouchard cashed in two more runs with a single one batter later.
UCLA put the Tar Heels away for good in the eighth inning when six consecutive batters reached base, adding four runs to the total. The Bruins combined for four hits, a walk and a reached based via error to extend the lead to 11-4.
The Bruins would go on to add another run in the ninth to reach the final result of 12-4. In total, the Bruins outscored the Tar Heels 26-17 on the weekend and hit .331 as a team. Moore and Kramer both had eight hits this weekend to lead the team, while Keck and Persico had five runs batted in each, also team highs.
UCLA (6-1) returns to Jackie Robinson Stadium on Tuesday, February 23, 2015 when they take on the Long Beach State Dirtbags (5-2). Tuesday's game will be the first televised game of the season and can be seen live on the Pac-12 Networks.
Notes: Ty Moore (2-for-3) has recorded two or more hits in all seven games so far this season. To date, the Bruins average margin of victory is eight runs. David Berg has 11 strikeouts this season over 6.0 innings, giving him 187 strikeouts in his UCLA career.