UCLA
4-5
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Mississippi State
7-3
#14 UCLA Defeats #24 Mississippi St.
March 05, 2016 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 14 UCLA Bruins defeated the No. 24 Mississippi State Bulldogs, 2-1, behind a strong 8.2-inning outing from sophomore starter Griffin Canning on Friday evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Canning (2-0) was spectacular on the mound, allowing just five hits and one run, while striking out a career-high 12 batters in the victory. The right-hander was through 8.2 scoreless innings, before giving up one run in the top of the ninth.
Then, with the bases loaded and two outs, freshman Brian Gadsby came in to shut the door with a strikeout to seal his second save of the season and the one-run victory for the Bruins. Dakota Hudson (1-1) received the loss for the Bulldogs after allowing two runs on five hits over seven innings.
The Bruins racked up five hits in the contest and got RBIs from Luke Persico (1-for-4, 2B, RBI) and Trent Chatterton (0-for-2, RBI).
UCLA (4-5) tallied first in tonight's game, getting one in the bottom of the second inning. Christoph Bono led off with a single to left and moved all the way around to third on a passed ball and a wild pitch. Then, with one out, Chatterton laid a squeeze bunt down the first base line to score Bono from first and lift the Bruins to a 1-0 lead.
In the fifth inning, UCLA doubled its lead with a two-out RBI-double off of the bat of Persico. With Brett Stephens on second, the Bruin first baseman laced a line drive into the left center field gap to score Stephens and extend the UCLA lead to two.
That two-run lead seemed safe with Canning cruising through the first eight innings, but the sophomore finally got into a little bit of trouble in the ninth.
Mississippi State (7-3) finally broke through with two out in the final inning. With a runner on second, Ryan Gridley hit a double down into the right field corner to plate Jake Mangum and cut the UCLA lead in half. Canning's replacement, Tucker Fobes, then hit back-to-back batters to load the bases for the Bulldogs. However, Gadsby came in and threw three straight strikes to finish off the one-run win for UCLA.
The Bruins continue the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic weekend tomorrow when they host the Oklahoma Sooners at 1:00pm PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Fans can purchase tickets by visiting uclabruins.com/tickets or by calling 310-UCLA-WIN. The game can also be heard live on uclabruins.com.
Notes: UCLA is now 14-0 all-time when Griffin Canning takes the mound as a starter…Canning set new career-highs in innings (8.2) and strikeouts (12)…Christoph Bono and Brett Urabe each extended their hit-streaks to a team-high six games…Eric Filia has now reached base in all nine games this season…Head Coach John Savage is now two wins away from 400 career wins at UCLA.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Canning, Griffin (2-0)
L: Dakota Hudson (1-1)
S: Gadsby, Brian (2)
.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Batting:
2B: Ryan Gridley 1
RBI: Ryan Gridley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jake Mangum 1
SB: Jacob Robson 1
HBP: Cody Brown 1 ; Elih Marrero 1
Batting:
2B: Persico, Luke 1
RBI: Persico, Luke 1 ; Chatterton, Trent 1
SH: Chatterton, Trent 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stephens, Brett 1 ; Bono, Christoph 1
SB: Filia, Eric 1
