UCLA
Cal State Northridge
UCLA Defeats CSUN, 5-1, to Extend Win-Streak to Six Games
March 04, 2015 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 6 UCLA Bruins extended their win-streak to six games by defeating the CSUN Matadors, 5-1, on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins claimed both regular season match-ups against the Matadors and move to 11-1 overall this season.
Freshman Griffin Canning (2-1) struck out a career-high eight batters and allowed just one run over six innings to earn his second victory of the year. Conner O'Neil (1-1) lasted just two innings, allowing two runs to garner the loss for CSUN.
The UCLA pitching staff continued its dominance on Tuesday night. Canning, Tucker Forbes, Grant Dyer and David Berg combined to allow just four hits and one run while striking out 13 batters.
At the plate, the Bruins used the home run ball to power the offense once again. Sophomore Luke Persico (1-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI) and Senior Chris Keck (1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI) each served up four-baggers in tonight's contest, bringing the team's season total to 13 through 12 games.
CSUN claimed the game's first run in the top of the first inning. With two outs and no one on, Canning walked Ryan Raslowsky, bringing up Yusuke Akitoshi. Akitoshi hit a high fly ball to center field that Christoph Bono lost in the night sky. The ball fell harmlessly to the grass in center field, allowing Akitoshi to get around to third and bringing Raslowky in on the play.
In the bottom half, UCLA answered back in a big way with a two-run home run from Persico. After Kevin Kramer was hit with a pitch to lead off the inning, Persico connected on a 1-1 pitch and sentt it flying over the left field fence to put the Bruins on top 2-1.
UCLA would add another pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, the first of which coming via the long ball. Reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, Chris Keck, took the first pitch of the inning from Angel Rodriguez deep over the 330 sign in right field for his team-leading fifth home run of the season. Then, UCLA got its fourth run when CSUN's Nolan Flashman misplayed a ball at first, allowing Kort Peterson to come in and score from third.
The Bruins final run came in an unconventional manner from Brett Urabe in the bottom of the eighth inning. Urabe hit a soft dribbler back to the mound that was fielded and subsequently thrown over the first baseman's head and into the right field corner. The ball kept rolling away from the right fielder and Urabe was able to hustle all the way around to score on a pseudo-inside-the-park-home run.
David Berg then shut the game down in the ninth inning to grab the 5-1 victory for the Bruins.
No. 6 UCLA (11-1) will be back in action on Friday, March 6, when they take on the top-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores at Jackie Robinson Stadium. First pitch is set for 6:00pm PT and tickets are still available at uclabruins.com/tickets. The game is part of an exciting weekend where UCLA will also face off with TCU on Saturday and USC on Sunday as part of the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic. Fans can listen to all three weekend games at uclabruins.com.
Notes: Junior Ty Moore's 11-game hit streak came to an end, but he reached on a walk in the fifth inning to extend his on-base streak to 12 games. In the past five games, the UCLA pitching staff has allowed just four runs, posting a combined 5-0 record with a 0.88 ERA and 41 strikeouts. The Bruins are now 8-0 at Jackie Robinson Stadium this season.
