University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Cal State Northridge
No. 11 UCLA Defeats CSUN, 7-3, to Remain Unbeaten
February 17, 2015 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 11 UCLA Bruins defeated the CSUN Matadors, 7-3, at Matador Field in Northridge, Calif. on Tuesday night. The Bruins remain unbeaten with an overall record of 4-0 on the season. This marks the Bruins' first 4-0 start since 2011.
Two-run home runs from Darrell Miller Jr. and Sean Bouchard in the eighth inning proved to be the difference in the game after the two teams were knotted at three through seven frames. Sophomore Grant Dyer came on in relief in the seventh inning and pitched a scoreless inning and a third to earn the victory. CSUN's Ray Lambert received the loss after allowing three runs in a third of an inning's work.
UCLA got on the board first in today's game with yet another home run from senior third baseman Chris Keck. Hitting his third home run of the season, Keck belted a 1-1 pitch high over the scoreboard in right field to put the Bruins up 1-0 in the second inning.
The Bruins would manufacture another run in the top of the fourth to double their lead to two. With one out, Ty Moore roped a double down the right field line to put himself in scoring position. Following a deep fly out from Keck that advanced Moore to third, the junior outfielder came home on a wild pitch from CSUN's Joey Deceglie.
CSUN answered by driving in a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Bruins would regain the two-run lead just a half inning later. With two outs and no one on base, sophomore Brett Stephens was hit by a pitch, bringing up shortstop Kevin Kramer. Kramer responded by driving a double down in to the right field corner to score Stephens. However, Kramer was gunned out at third base trying to stretch a double into a triple to end the inning.
The Matadors would come back to tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Two infield hits ended up scoring a pair of runs to bring CSUN even with the Bruins.
Following a scoreless sixth and seventh inning, the Bruins eventually broke it open in the eighth. With one out, junior catcher Miller Jr. launched his first career home run to bring in the first two runs. Then, following an error by the second baseman allowing Kort Peterson to reach base, freshman second baseman Bouchard hit his first career home run to bring in another two runs and put the game away.
Freshman right-hander Griffin Canning was solid in his debut start for UCLA, going four and a third innings, striking out six batters and allowing three runs.
UCLA (4-0) will now travel to play the North Carolina Tar Heels (3-0) for a three-game set beginning on February 20. All three games will feature a live audio broadcast that can be heard on uclabruins.com.
Notes: With their three home runs today, the Bruins have now matched their season total for home runs from last season with eight. Ty Moore has now had two or more hits in all four games this season, resulting in a .529 batting average. This season, UCLA has beaten its' opponents by an average of 9.25 runs per game.
