UCLA
Hofstra
No. 11 UCLA Finishes Series Sweep of Hofstra with 11-7 Victory
February 15, 2015 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA Bruins defeated the Hofstra Pride, 11-7, on Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium, completing a three-game series sweep to open the season.
Junior Cody Poteet pitched six innings, allowing two runs and striking out five batters to earn the victory for UCLA. Senior Nick Kozlowski allowed five runs over four and a third innings to receive the loss for Hofstra.
The Bruins once again had the bats going, scoring double-digit runs for the third consecutive game. UCLA also totaled double-digit hits for the third game in a row, led by Ty Moore who went 2-for-4 with two runs batted in. Senior Chris Keck hit his second home run of the series, giving UCLA five home runs in total on the year.
UCLA got the scoring started early, putting four runs on the board in the first inning. After Brett Stephens and Luke Persico reached base, clean-up hitter Moore brought them both home with a hard double into the left center gap. Keck then followed by hitting a 2-1 pitch high over the right field fence to plate two more runs.
After adding another run in the fourth, junior catcher Darrell Miller Jr. doubled home two runs in the fifth inning to give the Bruins a 7-0 advantage. Miller Jr. went with the pitch and drove the ball the other way, splitting the center fielder and right fielder, to bring Moore and Keck all the way around from first and second to score.
In the sixth inning, the Bruins extended their lead to 10 thanks to an impressive hustle play by Kevin Kramer. Attempting to steal second base, Kramer slid into the bag hard, making it difficult for the second baseman to catch the ball and apply the tag. The throw subsequently went into center field and Kramer ran hard around third to make it all the way home from first base.
With a ten-run lead, the UCLA bullpen struggled to keep Hofstra at bay in the seventh inning. The Pride strung together four hits and two walks in the inning to bring them within five heading to the eighth.
The Bruins found themselves in trouble again in the eighth after allowing runners to reach second and third with no outs. However, UCLA brought in senior closer David Berg who struck out the side to maintain the Bruin lead.
UCLA would allow two runs to score in the ninth inning, but eventually closed out the series with an 11-7 victory.
The UCLA Bruins (3-0) next game is on Tuesday, February 17 at 2:00pm PT against the CSUN Matadors (4-0) at Matador Field in Northridge, Calif. The game can be heard live on uclabruins.com.
Notes: Darrell Miller Jr. set a new career single-game high in runs batted in (3). Brett Stephens led the team in hits and runs this weekend, finishing the series going 7-for-13 with nine runs scored. Dating back to last season, Stephens has now recorded a hit in nine-straight games. With two home runs each this weekend, both Chris Keck and Luke Persico have set new single-season career highs in home runs. As a team, the Bruins went 9-for-10 on stolen base attempts this weekend.
