UCLA
Washington State
Bruins Stave Off Early Three-Run Deficit for Eighth Consecutive Win
March 29, 2015 | Baseball
PULLMAN – The No. 9 UCLA Bruins fought back from an early three-run deficit to defeat the Washington State Cougars, 8-4, on Sunday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field, in Pullman, Wash. The win marks the eighth-straight for UCLA and the second consecutive undefeated weekend. UCLA is now in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 Conference.
UCLA, with 21 wins through 26 games, is off to its best start since 2010 (23-3).
Freshman Griffin Canning (5-1) struck out four batters and allowed three runs on four hits in six innings to earn the win. Fellow freshman Scotty Sunitsch (0-1) received the loss in relief after allowing one hit and one run in 0.2 innings. Senior David Berg came on in the eighth and threw two scoreless innings, allowing no hits, to record his sixth save.
The Bruins strung together four two-run innings, including three in-a-row, and 11 hits in total; the 12th time this season that UCLA has recorded double-digit hits. Eight different UCLA players recorded a hit, led by Ty Moore (2-for-4, 2B, R, 3 RBI) and Kort Peterson (3-for-4, 2B, R, 2 SB).
Washington State (12-14, 1-8) jumped out to the early lead, scoring three runs in the opening frame. However, the UCLA defense did much of the work for the Cougars, recording two errors to aid the Washington State effort. After Shea Donlin led the inning off with a single, UCLA failed to record an out on back-to-back sacrifice bunts due to errors by Luke Persico and Chris Keck. The second error, an overthrow by Keck, allowed Donlin to come in and score the game's first run. Wes Leow and P.J. Jones then followed with consecutive sacrifice-flys to put the Cougars on top 3-0 after one.
UCLA (21-5, 8-1) responded with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning to get within one of the Cougars. Persico began the inning with a single and subsequently moved up to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Moore followed with a line-drive RBI-double into the left center field gap to score Persico from third. Moore then advanced to third on a Keck groundout and came home one batter later when Darrell Miller Jr. singled up the middle to make it 3-2.
The Bruins then took the lead in the top of the seventh with their first of three consecutive two-run innings. Persico got on base to begin the frame again, this time via walk. After a sacrifice-bunt from Moore, Keck then drove Persico home with a deep double to the right-center field gap to tie the score. Keck eventually reached third on a wild pitch and then came home on a balk by Cougars' pitcher Colby Nealy. With runners on second and third and two outs, Nealy's mishap cost Washington State and gave the Bruins their first lead of the game, 4-3.
One inning later, Moore delivered his second and third runs batted in to extend the UCLA lead to 6-3. Kevin Kramer doubled with one out and Brett Stephens was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. After a Persico groundout moved the runners to second and third, Moore drove both runs in with a single to left field.
After Washington State cut the deficit to three with a run in the bottom of the eighth, UCLA added two more tallies in the top of the ninth. With one out, Peterson doubled and Trent Chatterton walked to put two runners on for Christoph Bono. The Bruin center fielder proceeded to lace a double to the right-center field gap, bringing in both runs, but was cut down at third trying to leg out a triple.
David Berg then finished off his second inning of work with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to seal the UCLA victory, 8-4.
UCLA continues Pac-12 Conference play next weekend when they host the Oregon State Beavers for a three-game series at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The first game is set for Thursday, April 2 at 7:00pm PT. All three games will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks and fans can still listen to live audio from John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm on uclabruins.com.
Notes: UCLA extends its season-high win streak to eight. Luke Persico (.455), Kort Peterson (.429) and Chris Keck (.364) all hit over .350 for the weekend. Ty Moore led the team with five RBI this weekend, followed by Persico with three RBI. David Berg allowed zero hits and zero runs in four innings, while recording two saves this weekend. Kevin Kramer has recorded at least one hit in 22 of 26 games. The Bruins are hitting .307 with 54 runs and 49 RBI in nine conference games. The UCLA staff ERA in Pac-12 games is 1.80.
