UCLA Outlasts Long Beach State in 13-Innings, 4-3

Tuesday, April 4

Long Beach, CA

6:00 PM

UCLA

17-8

Long Beach State

18-9

UCLA

Long Beach State

Luke Jewett (photo: Andy Berg)

Photo by: Andrew Berg

UCLA Outlasts Long Beach State in 13-Innings, 4-3

April 05, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

LONG BEACH, Calif. – The No. 22-ranked UCLA baseball team outlasted Long Beach State for a 4-3 win in 13 innings on Tuesday night at Blair Field.

The Bruins (17-8) trailed 3-1 and were down to their last out in the ninth inning when sophomore third baseman Duce Gourson hit a game-tying two-run home run to center field.

It was the second of three consecutive hard-hit balls during the inning for the Bruins, as Malakhi Knight was robbed of a potential game-tying home run the at-bat previous and Cody Schrier laced a single to center field immediately after the roundtripper.

Gourson's heroics sent the game to extras, where the two teams battled to a deadlock until the Bruins manufactured a single run in the top of the 13^th to take their first lead of the game.

That one run held up for sophomore Luke Jewett, who held the Dirtbags (18-9) off the board for a career-high 5 1/3 innings, including the entirety of extra innings.

Senior catcher Darius Perry worked a walk to lead off the decisive 13^th, moving into scoring position after a sac bunt. UCLA would go on to load the bases on an intentional walk and a flare from Jarrod Hocking, allowing Perry to come in from third on a sac fly to right from graduate catcher/infielder Knox Loposer.

Jewett faced the stiffest test of his outing in the bottom half of the 13^th after allowing a double to LBSU cleanup man Connor Burns on the first pitch of the frame.

He bounced back to get to the next three batters in order however, getting a medium-soft line drive to center field before rolling up back-to-back grounders to second base to end the game.

The 16 outs recorded by Jewett were a career-high, eclipsing the previous four innings he threw against Oregon State in the 2022 Pac-12 Tournament. It was his first time this season he had been assigned with recording more than four outs.

Gourson (2-7), Schrier (2-6), and Hocking (2-4) each notched multi-hit days for the Bruins. Hocking in particular had a standout offensive effort, notching his first two collegiate knocks and reaching base four times overall.

Prior to Jewett taking over the game, right handers Cody Delvecchio and Charles Harrison had started to get the ball rolling on shutting down the LBSU offense, combining for 2 2/3 scoreless relief innings.

Overall, the quartet of sophomore lefty Ethan Flanagan – making his 2023 debut – Delvecchio, Harrison, and Jewett closed the game by getting 27 consecutive outs without allowing a run, the equivalent of a nine-inning game. UCLA walked just one batter over the entire game.

Freshman right-hander Michael Barnett drew the start and was solid on the mound for UCLA, surrendering just two earned runs over four full innings.

LBSU was led by leadoff man Eddie Saldivar (3-5, two runs) and Burns (3-6, RBI). Nine Dirtbag pitchers combined to record 17 strikeouts in the game.

Freshman right fielder Keenan Proctor – drawing his first-collegiate start – got the Bruins on the board in the second inning, wearing a 3-2 offering with the bases loaded to force in a run. UCLA had previously juiced the bags on three walks. In fact, UCLA drew a leadoff walk in each of its three run-producing frames.

After a week of away games, UCLA returns to Jackie Robinson Stadium this weekend to host Utah in a Pac-12 series starting on Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. PT.