UCLA
13-2
USC
9-5
UCLA Offense Erupts in 15-3 Rout of USC
March 08, 2020 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 2 UCLA capped off the 2020 Southern California College Baseball Classic by routing crosstown rival USC 15-3 in non-conference action on Sunday afternoon at Dedeaux Field.
UCLA (13-2) set new season-highs for runs and hits (19) in the win. Every starter recorded a hit on Sunday, and six Bruins had multiple hits including a career-high four hits for left fielder Pat Caulfield and three-knock days for Mikey Perez and Jake Moberg.
The Bruins scored in six of their nine offensive innings, logging multi-run rallies in four separate frames. After USC (9-5) hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first to make it 3-2, UCLA outscored the home team 12-1 the rest of the way.
On the mound, UCLA received another strong start from sophomore Jesse Bergin, who allowed just two earned over six innings. After giving up that two-run homer to Clay Owens in the first, he bounced back and held the Trojans off the board while allowing just two hits for the remainder of his outing.
The Bruin bullpen shut it down from there, with Michael Townsend, Kyle Mora, and Holden Powell teaming up to allow just a single unearned run over the final three innings of the game. ย
UCLA went up for good with a three-spot in the first, taking advantage of two USC errors โ the Trojans committed five errors overall โ to post a trio of two-out runs. Perez opened the scoring when his grounder up the middle was booted by the USC shortstop, allowing Garrett Mitchell to come across. Moberg and Caulfield followed with sharp RBI singles to make it 3-0.
The Bruins built a comfortable lead with another three-spot in the fifth, using both small ball and the long ball to make it 7-2. Caulfield brought in the first run of the rally with a perfectly-executed safety squeeze to the right side, allowing JT Schwartz to score easily from third.
The next batter โ senior DH ย Kyle Cuellar โ unloaded on a 3-1 fastball from USC righty Carson Lambert and sent it over the right field fence for a two-run home run.
UCLA put the game on ice with five runs in the seventh, another rally aided by a USC error. Perez had the biggest hit of the inning, ripping a double into the left field corner to plate a pair. Moberg capped the rally with an RBI single back up the middle to make it 13-2.
The Bruins' 15 runs were their most in a game at Dedeaux since Mar. 23, 2009 (17-2).
UCLA returns to action next weekend, opening up Pac-12 play with a three-game set against Oregon starting on Friday night at 6:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bergin, Jesse (4-0)
L: Cornwell, Alex (2-1)
Batting:
2B: McLain, Matt 1 ; Perez, Mikey 1 ; Caulfield, Pat 1
HR: Cuellar, Kyle 1
RBI: McLain, Matt 2 ; Perez, Mikey 2 ; Moberg, Jake 1 ; Caulfield, Pat 3 ; Cuellar, Kyle 3
SH: Caulfield, Pat 1
SF: Cuellar, Kyle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Curialle, Michael 1 ; Prendiz, Jordan 1 ; McLain, Matt 2 ; Schwartz, JT 2 ; Perez, Mikey 3 ; Moberg, Jake 1 ; Cuellar, Kyle 1 ; McInerny, Will 2
HBP: Perez, Mikey 1
Batting:
HR: Owens, Clay 1
RBI: Owens, Clay 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Thomas, Rhylan 1 ; Owens, Clay 1 ; Thomas, John 1
