UCLA
15-3, 5-1
Arizona
12-6, 3-3
UCLA Completes Arizona Sweep With 6-4 Sunday Win
March 19, 2023 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – No. 12 UCLA scored in each of its final five offensive innings to record a 6-4 win over Arizona on Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The result sealed a weekend sweep for the Bruins (15-3, 5-1 Pac-12), who also improved to 12-0 this season in home games.
Sophomore shortstop Cody Schrier (3-4, two doubles, RBI), sophomore first baseman Jack Holman (3-4, two runs), and junior third baseman Kyle Karros (2-5) led the Bruins on offense.
Senior right-hander Kelly Austin pitched into the sixth inning and allowed just one earned run while striking out seven. UCLA used six relievers to finish out the game, with redshirt sophomore Chris Aldrich and senior left-hander Jake Saum posting the most-effective outings.
The Bruins trailed, 1-0, through the first third of the game, but pulled off a string off five consecutive scoring innings starting in the fourth to take control of the contest.
Sophomore center fielder Malakhi Knight had a team-high three RBIs during that run, coming through with a pair of run-producing at-bats for the Bruins.
First, he tied the game up in the fourth after bouncing one up the middle with the bases loaded for an RBI groundout.
After Karros and Schrier ripped RBI doubles into the left field corner in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, Knight produced what turned out to be the game-winning run with a two-run double that short-hopped the wall in left-center field in the seventh inning.
Senior catcher Darius Perry added an RBI single in the eighth inning to make it a four-run game. Arizona made it interesting with a home run that brought the deficit to two in the ninth, but that was as close as they would get.
Bruin relievers made some big pitches in the late innings to hold the Wildcats (12-6, 3-3) at bay.
Most crucial was Saum's outing in the seventh. Summoned with the bases loaded and just one out, Saum induced swinging strikeouts from Arizona's three and four-hole hitters to get UCLA out of the bases-loaded jam with no damage against.
Freshman right-hander Cody Delvecchio then pitched his way out of a two-on jam in the eighth to keep it a four-run game.
Arizona got multi-hit days from four players, including a team-high three from leadoff man Mac Bingham. Left fielder Chase Davis was 2-3 with a two-run home run.
UCLA returns to action next weekend, hosting Washington for a three-game conference series starting on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. PT. The entire series will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Aldrich, Chris (3-0)
L: Hintz, Casey (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Davis, Chase 1 ; Romero, Kiko 1
HR: Davis, Chase 1
RBI: Bingham, Mac 1 ; Davis, Chase 2 ; Romero, Kiko 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bingham, Mac 1 ; Davis, Chase 2 ; Casagrande, Tyler 1
Batting:
2B: Schrier, Cody 2 ; Karros, Kyle 1 ; Holman, Jack 1 ; Knight, Malakhi 1
RBI: Schrier, Cody 1 ; Karros, Kyle 1 ; Perry, Darius 1 ; Knight, Malakhi 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Schrier, Cody 1 ; Gourson, Duce 2 ; Holman, Jack 2 ; Knight, Malakhi 1
SB: Yates, Carson 1 ; Bythewood, Toussaint 1
CS: Gourson, Duce 1
HBP: Gourson, Duce 1 ; Holman, Jack 1
