UCLA
2-3
Cal Poly
4-1
#15 UCLA Outlasts Cal Poly, 7-6
February 27, 2016 | Baseball
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The No. 15 UCLA Bruins outlasted the Cal Poly Mustangs to take a 7-6 victory in game one of a three-game series on Friday evening at Baggett Stadium. Kort Peterson delivered the game-winning RBI-single in the bottom of the seventh to propel the Bruins to victory.
Jake Bird (1-1) earned the win for UCLA, allowing one run over 2.1 innings of relief work, while Brian Gadsby (1) earned his first career save with a scoreless ninth. Kyle Smith (1-1) allowed seven runs on 10 hits over 6.2 innings to garner the loss for Cal Poly.
The Bruins totaled a season-high 11 hits, led by Kort Peterson (3-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 2 SB) who notched his second consecutive three-hit game. Also finishing with multiple hits were Eric Filia (2-for-5, 2B, 2 R, RBI) and Brett Urabe (2-for-3, RBI).
UCLA (2-3) took the first lead of the game after manufacturing a trio of runs in the top of the second inning. A pair of RBI-infield singles from Christoph Bono and Trent Chatterton, paired with a squeeze bunt from Daniel Rosica to drive in another, lifted the Bruins to a 3-0 advantage over Cal Poly in the early stages of the game.
The Bruins would back up their three-run second with a two-run third to extend their advantage to five runs. Helped out by a pair of errors, UCLA would plate one on an error by the Cal Poly shortstop and another when Urabe served an RBI-single to right field to claim a, 5-0, edge.
Cal Poly (4-1), who had been held dormant, responded in a big way in the bottom of the fifth with five runs to knot the score at five apiece. The Mustangs batted around in the inning which saw four different Bruin pitchers come in and allow four hits and three walks. John Schuknecht delivered the big blow in the inning with a three-run home run over the left field fence.
The resilient UCLA side eventually struck for two, including the game-winning run, in the top of the seventh. After Luke Persico reached on a one-out single, Filia roped a double off of the top of the right-center field wall to take a one-run lead. Then, with two strikes and two outs,Peterson delivered his third hit of the game with an RBI-single up the middle to give the Bruins the 7-5 lead.
Cal Poly staged a two-out rally in the bottom half of the seventh, but could only plate one run. With the bases loaded and two outs, Tucker Forbes came up with a crucial strikeout to strand three runners and keep UCLA ahead. Forbes and Gadsby then teamed up to pitch back-to-back scoreless innings to seal the victory for the Bruins.
Game two between UCLA and Cal Poly begins tomorrow at 6:00pm PT at Baggett Stadium. Fans can listen to all of the action live at uclabruins.com.
Notes: Dating back to last season, Kort Peterson has recorded a hit in 10-straight games…Kort Peterson tied a single game career-high with two steals…Sean Bouchard tied a single game career-high with two runs…Tonight was the first time this season that UCLA scored first in a game…Head Coach John Savage is four wins away from reaching 400 career wins at UCLA.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bird, Jake (1-1)
L: Smith, Kyle (1-1)
S: Gadsby, Brian (1)
Batting:
2B: Filia, Eric 1
RBI: Filia, Eric 1 ; Peterson, Kort 2 ; Urabe, Brett 1 ; Bono, Christoph 1 ; Chatterton, Trent 1 ; Rosica, Daniel 1
SH: Urabe, Brett 1 ; Rosica, Daniel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Persico, Luke 1 ; Filia, Eric 2 ; Bouchard, Sean 2 ; Peterson, Kort 1 ; Bono, Christoph 1
SB: Peterson, Kort 2 ; Bono, Christoph 1
CS: Urabe, Brett 1
Batting:
HR: Schuknecht, John 1
RBI: Schuknecht, John 3 ; Meyer, Nick 1 ; Smith, Alec 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McKenna, Alex 1 ; Barbier, Brett 1 ; Mavropoulos, Jake 1 ; Schuknecht, John 1 ; Marinconz, Kyle 2
SB: McKenna, Alex 1
HBP: Barbier, Brett 1
