UCLA
19-20, 9-10
Utah
15-22, 10-6
UCLA Loses Close Battle at Utah
April 29, 2016 | Baseball
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The UCLA Bruins lost a tightly-contested battle to the Utah Utes, 6-4, on Friday afternoon at Smith's Ballpark. The Bruins had the tying run in scoring position in each of the last two innings, but couldn't convert in the series opening loss.
The Bruins totaled 12 hits in the game, led by Brett Stephens (3-for-4, 3 R, BB, SB) who topped the team with three. Eric Filia (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, SB) was also strong, racking up two hits and an RBI.
Griffin Canning (5-5) went eight innings in the loss, allowing five runs (one earned) on 10 hits with five strikeouts. Utah starter Jayson Rose (6-4) earned the victory, allowing four runs (two earned) over his seven innings, while Dylan Drachler (6) earned the 1.2-inning save.
UCLA (19-20, 9-10) got things going early as Stephens manufactured a first inning run for the Bruins. Stephens led off the game with a single to center field, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the Utah catcher. The Bruin left fielder then scampered home on a wild pitch with two outs to lift UCLA to the one-run lead.
Utah (15-22, 10-6) bounced back with four runs in the second to snatch the lead away from the Bruins. Canning retired the first two Utes in the inning before Josh Rose singled to left to start the rally. Two wild pitches, two errors and two hits later, Utah had four runs on the board and led UCLA, 4-1.
The Bruins got one back in the third after Stephens singled, Filia doubled and Luke Persico singled in consecutive at-bats to pull back within two.
UCLA then tied the game in the seventh, bringing a pair of runs across. Filia drove in the first run with a deep sac-fly to right center that was just a few feet away from being a home run. Then, with a man on second, Bouchard reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, allowing another run to come in, and the Bruins pulled even with Utah at four.
The Utes immediately answered with a run of their own in the bottom half to regain the lead. With two outs and a man on second, Cody Scaggari lined a single to left field to plate Kody Davis and lift Utah to a, 5-4, lead.
The Bruins had a golden opportunity to put runs on the board in the eighth, loading the bases with one out for the middle of the UCLA lineup. However, a strikeout and a ground out left them loaded and left the Bruins without the run they needed.
After Utah tacked on one more run in the bottom of the eighth, the Bruins again had a chance to tie it in the ninth, putting runners on second and third with one out. But, once again, UCLA failed to get the hit they needed, stranding both runners with a strikeout and lineout to end the game.
Game two of the series between UCLA and Utah begins tomorrow at 11:00am PT at Smith's Ballpark. The game can be seen live on the Utah live stream or heard live at uclabruins.com.
Notes: Eric Filia has now reached base in 38 of 39 games this season and extended his hit streak to eight games…Luke Persico extended his hit streak to six games…Kort Peterson has now reached base in 13 consecutive games…Brett Stephens scored a single game season-high three runs…Griffin Canning recorded his first pick off and UCLA's first pick off as a team this season…Canning has struck out at least five batters in all 11 starts this year…UCLA recorded a season-high five stolen bases.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rose, Jayson (6-4)
L: Canning, Griffin (5-5)
S: Drachler, Dylan (6)
Batting:
2B: Filia, Eric 1
RBI: Filia, Eric 1 ; Persico, Luke 1
SF: Filia, Eric 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stephens, Brett 3 ; Rosica, Daniel 1
SB: Stephens, Brett 1 ; Filia, Eric 1 ; Bouchard, Sean 1 ; Bono, Christoph 1 ; Amaral, Daniel 1
HBP: Urabe, Brett 1
Batting:
2B: Carroll, Dallas 1 ; Young, AJ 1
3B: Simmons, Hunter 1
RBI: Keirsey Jr., DaShawn 1 ; Scaggari, Cody 1 ; Jackson, Andre 1 ; Young, AJ 1
SH: Young, AJ 1
SF: Jackson, Andre 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Keirsey Jr., DaShawn 1 ; Simmons, Hunter 1 ; Rose, Josh 1 ; Kelly, Ellis 1 ; Davis, Kody 1 ; Young, AJ 1
PO: Scaggari, Cody 1
