UCLA
34-19, 18-10
Oregon State
40-12, 19-9
UCLA Grabs 4-1 Win at No. 2 Oregon State
May 19, 2022 | Baseball
CORVALLIS, Ore. โ Reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week Max Rajcic tossed six innings of one-run ball and the offense came through with some clutch moments as No. 22 UCLA took a 4-1 decision over No. 2 Oregon State in Thursday night's series-opener at Goss Stadium.
The Bruins (34-19, 18-10 Pac-12) never trailed in the contest, plating a single run in the first, doubling the lead in the sixth, and adding a pair of insurance runs in the ninth. UCLA limited the Beavers (40-12, 19-9) to just three hits in the contest.
Junior catcher Darius Perry (2-4) was the lone Bruin with multiple hits on Thursday, but several Bruins came up in the big moments to deliver the win.
Freshman shortstop Cody Schrier opened the game up by winning a 2-2 battle against OSU ace Cooper Hjerpe, lining an outside fastball into the right-center field gap for a leadoff double (he went to third on the same play as the OSU right fielder bobbled the ball at the wall). He soon came across as graduate first baseman Jake Palmer was able to loft one to left for a sacrifice fly.
Junior right fielder Michael Curialle scored the eventual game-winning run in almost-singlehanded fashion in the sixth. He wore a 2-1 pitch from Hjerpe to reach base with one out, and then stole both second and third base with Ethan Gourson at the plate to get within 90 feet from home. His aggressiveness allowed him to come across on a fly ball to medium-left, making it 2-0 at the time.
The Bruins rallied for a pair in the ninth against the OSU bullpen, with Perry and graduate left fielder Kenny Oyama both lining RBI singles in the frame.
Meanwhile, Rajcic and the bullpen duo of Charles Harrison and Alonzo Tredwell threw a combined three-hitter for the Bruins.
Fresh off a 14-strikeout outing against WSU that ranked among the most-dominant in recent program history, Rajcic followed it up by fanning eight Beaver batters and giving up just one run on two hits over six complete innings.
He rarely ran into trouble. Rajcic bounced back from a leadoff single to post a zero in the third, came up with a big swinging strikeout on a curveball in the dirt to strand a RISP in the fourth, and froze Greg Fuchs for an inning-ending K that limited the damage to one run in the sixth.
Harrison followed with a 1-2-3 seventh, and Tredwell gave up just a single over a two-inning save.
UCLA and Oregon State resume the series on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks.
Bruins take down the Beavers! ??
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) May 20, 2022
No. 23 @UCLABaseball opens huge series with 4-1 win over No. 2 Oregon State.#Pac12BSB | #GoBruins | @Wendys pic.twitter.com/SL0zH0NkkP
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Rajcic, Max (8-4)
L: Hjerpe, Cooper (9-2)
S: Tredwell, Alonzo (4)
Batting:
2B: Schrier, Cody 1
RBI: Palmer, Jake 1 ; Gourson, Duce 1 ; Perry, Darius 1 ; Oyama, Kenny 1
SF: Palmer, Jake 1 ; Gourson, Duce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schrier, Cody 1 ; Curialle, Michael 1 ; Reyes, Daylen 1 ; Perry, Darius 1
SB: Curialle, Michael 2
HBP: Curialle, Michael 1
Batting:
RBI: Logan, Gavin 1
SH: Bazzana, Travis 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Boyd, Justin 1
