UCLA
San Diego State
13th Inning Home Run Leads UCLA to 5-2 Road Win over San Diego State
March 25, 2015 | Baseball
SAN DIEGO – A 13th inning three-run home run from Ty Moore proved to be the difference for UCLA in a 5-2 win over the San Diego State Aztecs on Tuesday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium, in San Diego, Calif. The Bruins extend their win-streak to five games and are now 2-0 in extra-inning contests.
With runners on second and third and one out, UCLA left fielder Moore blasted his second home run of the season over the left-center field fence to put the Bruins up for good in the top of the 13th. David Berg followed with a 1-2-3 bottom half to seal the victory for UCLA.
Berg (2-0) pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing one run and striking out three, to earn the win. San Diego State's C.J. Saylor (0-1) allowed four runs in 3.2 innings of work to get the loss.
Overall, the UCLA pitching staff combined for 17 strikeouts, marking the first time since April 22, 2011 that a Bruin team has struck out that many batters in a single game. Grant Dyer led the way with a career-high seven punch outs.
At the dish, Moore (2-for-3, HR, R, 4 RBI) collected a career-high four runs batted in to lead the Bruin attack. Kevin Kramer (2-for-6, R) and Brett Stephens (2-for-5, 2B, R, BB) each pitched in multi-hit performances for UCLA who finished with nine hits in total.
UCLA (18-5, 5-1 Pac-12) got things going early, scoring a run in the first inning for the 12th time this season. The Bruins began the game with singles from Kramer and Stephens along with a walk to Luke Persico to load the bases with no outs. Despite threatening to post a 'big' inning, UCLA was only able to cash in a single run on a sacrifice-fly from Moore.
San Diego State (19-6, 7-2 MWC) was able to bring in the tying run four innings later on an unfortunate defensive play by the Bruins. With runners on second and third and two outs, Alan Trejo hit a ground ball to Trent Chatterton at second base. The junior infielder could not handle the hop and a run was able to score for the Aztecs to knot the game at one in the bottom of the fifth.
The two teams would remain knotted at one apiece through the next four innings, resulting in the Bruins second extra innings contest of the season.
It wasn't until the 12th inning that a team broke the tie when the Bruins scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch from Aztec pitcher Saylor. Chatterton began the inning with a hard single to right field and was subsequently moved up to third on a sacrifice-bunt and a groundout in consecutive at-bats. Saylor then threw the first pitch of the at-bat to Kramer in the dirt, allowing Chatterton to hustle home.
Holding a 2-1 lead, Berg looked to close it out for UCLA in the bottom of the 12th inning. However, with one out, San Diego State's Ryan Muno got ahold of a 2-2 pitch and sent it soaring over the left field fence to knot the game at two. The home run ended Berg's consecutive scoreless innings streak at 10 and forced a 13th inning.
Stephens began the 13th inning with a walk and reached second on a sacrifice-bunt from Persico. The next batter, Chris Keck, hit a fly ball to left field which looked to be the second out. However, the Aztec left fielder dropped the ball, allowing Stephens to reach third and Keck to reach second, setting up the game-winning blast from Moore.
The Bruins remain on the road and continue Pac-12 Conference play this weekend when they travel to Pullman, Wash. to take on the Washington State Cougars for a three-game series. The opening contest is set for 6:00pm PT on Friday, March 27. Radio broadcaster John Ramey will have the call all weekend and fans can listen live to all three games at uclabruins.com.
Notes: When scoring in the first inning, the Bruins are now 11-1. UCLA's midweek record is now 5-0, including 3-0 in road games. Cody Poteet's pickoff in the second inning brings the UCLA total to 14; the most in the Pac-12. The current five-game win streak marks the third time this season that UCLA has won five or more games in-a-row.
