BERKELEY, Calif. – The UCLA Bruins dropped game three of the series to the No. 10 Cal Golden Bears, 5-3, on Sunday afternoon at Evans Diamond. The Bruins rallied in the ninth inning, but came up two runs short in the series finale.
UCLA racked up 12 hits in the loss, led by Eric Filia (3-for-4, 2B, R, BB) and Luke Persico (3-for-4, 2 R, BB) who each had three hits. Sean Bouchard (1-for-4, RBI) and Kort Peterson (1-for-2, RBI, 2 BB) drove in a run each to aid the attack.
Bruin starter Kyle Molnar (2-2) got the loss, allowing four runs on 10 hits, while striking out five over seven innings. Matt Ladrech (3-1) earned the win for Cal, allowing nine hits, but just one run, over his 6.2 innings of work.
Cal (18-6, 7-2), just as it did last night, used the home run ball to get the scoring started. In the bottom of the first, Brett Cumberland hit a two-run home run to right field to lift the Golden Bears to the early, 2-0, advantage.
Cumberland went deep again to lead off the fourth inning, taking the first pitch he saw over the fence in right to put Cal up by three.
UCLA (12-13, 4-5) finally got a run across in the seventh to pull within two of the Golden Bears. With two outs, Persico singled and Filia walked to put two on base for Bouchard. The Bruin first baseman then hit a chopper to shortstop which bounced off of the defender's glove for an error, allowing Persico to come in and make it a 3-1 ballgame.
However, Cal responded with a run in the bottom half of the frame to regain the three-run edge. Devin Pearson supplied the RBI-single to extend the Golden Bear lead. Cumberland would then drive in another run on a single in the eighth to add to the total.
Down by four, the Bruins mounted a ninth-inning rally. With one out, Persico singled and Filia doubled to get the UCLA offense going. Bouchard and Peterson followed with RBI-singles to cut the Cal lead to two. However, Brett Stephens proceeded to hit into a game-ending double play in the next at-bat to end the UCLA comeback attempt.
The Bruins will now return home to host the CSUN Matadors on Tuesday, April 5 at 6:00pm PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Tickets can be purchased by visiting uclabruins.com/tickets or by calling 310-UCLA-WIN. Fans can listen to the game live on uclabruins.com.
Notes: Eric Filia has reached base in all 25 games this season…Filia has gone 72 consecutive at-bats without a strikeout… Sean Bouchard has driven in 20 runs in his last 14 games…Trent Chatterton has reached base in 11 consecutive games…Jake Pries made his first career start…Luke Persico (.500) and Eric Filia (.455) each hit over .450 this weekend…This is the first time UCLA has been swept in a three-game series with Cal since 1985.