UCLA
33-18, 17-10
Washington State
23-26, 9-18
Schrier Walk-Off Seals WSU Sweep in Home Finale
May 15, 2022 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Freshman shortstop Cody Schrier delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to lead No. 22 UCLA to a 8-7 win over Washington State on Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The dramatic win finished off a weekend sweep for the Bruins (33-18, 17-10 Pac-12), who out-scored the Cougars 22-8 for the weekend. UCLA was playing its final home games of the 2022 season.
The Cougars dropped to 23-26, 9-18.
UCLA had control of the game early, posting a four-spot in the first and leading 6-1 after five innings. It was the third consecutive game that the Bruins plated four or more runs in the opening stanza.
Washington State would go on to take its first lead of the weekend with a six-run sixth, but the Bruins immediately responded with a single run in the bottom half to knot it back up and set up Schrier's heroics.
The game-winning rally was started by a one-out single from sophomore center fielder Carson Yates, who pounced on a 2-0 breaking pitch and smashed it through the left side. Yates would move into scoring position on a ball in the dirt.
At that point, WSU opted to intentionally walk UCLA's Kenny Oyama, who was 2-4 on the day, to set up a right-on-right matchup between Schrier and Chase Grillo.
Grillo got ahead in the count 0-2, but Schrier battled back to even it up at 2-2 before spoiling a sixth offering. Schrier got an elevated slider on the next pitch, and he drilled it through the right side to easily bring in Yates from second.
GAME. OVER. #GoBruins | @codyschrier5 pic.twitter.com/nnYZzsImaQ
โ UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) May 15, 2022
It was the Bruins' fifth walk-off victory of the season, and second that was ended by a Schrier hit. He had previously hit a walk-off solo home run in the 11th inning against LMU on Apr. 5.
UCLA built a big lead early thanks to a four-spot in the first.
The first three batters of that frame all collected hits to plate a run for the Bruins. After a sharp line drive to left resulted in the first out of the inning, sophomore third baseman Kyle Karros unloaded on a 3-1 pitch from WSU starter McKabe Cottrell and sent it over the left-field fence for a three-run home run.
It was the second straight game in which Karros hit a three-run bomb in the opening frame.
B1 | He's done it again!
— UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) May 15, 2022
Kyle Karros hits a three-run ?? to give the Bruins an early lead for the second consecutive day.
UCLA 4, Washington State 0
?? | Pac-12 Los Angeles
?? | https://t.co/E6XFhIxjl2#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/fuvOx7xbSg
Junior right fielder Michael Curialle was responsible for a two-run swing for the Bruins in the sixth. In the top half of the inning, Curialle gunned down a runner at home trying to score from second on a single to right. That play took a run away and stopped a six-run inning for the visitors.
Then in the bottom half, Curialle shot a base hit through the right side to plate junior catcher Darius Perry from second base and tie the game at 7-7.
The walk-off result made a winner out of freshman right-hander Alonzo Tredwell, who tossed three scoreless innings at the tail end of the game.
He only ran trouble into the eighth, but bounced back from a leadoff double in that frame to retire the next three batters in a row.
UCLA starter Kelly Austin was in line for the win after delivering five innings of one-run ball. The redshirt sophomore right-hander allowed a solo home run to open the second, but was basically untouched otherwise as the Cougars failed to get another runner into scoring position against him.
Curialle's three hits on the afternoon led the Bruins, while each of the top-three batters in the order all had multiple knocks.
UCLA's five senior/graduate players were honored in a pre-game ceremony: Jake Moberg, Oyama, Jack Filby, Jake Palmer, and Daniel Colwell.
The Bruins wrap up their regular season schedule this week with four road games, starting on Tuesday night at UC Irvine. The 6:00 p.m. PT game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Tredwell, Alonzo (2-1)
L: Grillo, Chase (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Russell, Kyle 1
HR: McKeon, Jacob 1
RBI: Matthews, Bryce 1 ; Smith, Jack 1 ; McKeon, Jacob 1 ; Van De Brake, Justin 2 ; Swarts, Nate 1
SH: Matthews, Bryce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kolden, Kodie 1 ; Matthews, Bryce 1 ; Smith, Jack 1 ; McKeon, Jacob 2 ; Van De Brake, Justin 1 ; Montez, Collin 1
HBP: Kolden, Kodie 1 ; Smith, Jack 1 ; Montez, Collin 1
Batting:
2B: Schrier, Cody 1
HR: Karros, Kyle 1
RBI: Schrier, Cody 1 ; Palmer, Jake 1 ; Curialle, Michael 2 ; Karros, Kyle 3 ; Reyes, Daylen 1
SH: Palmer, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schrier, Cody 1 ; Palmer, Jake 1 ; Curialle, Michael 1 ; Gourson, Duce 1 ; Karros, Kyle 1 ; Yates, Carson 1 ; Perry, Darius 1 ; Oyama, Kenny 1
SB: Yates, Carson 1
