UCLA
26-20-1, 11-13-1
Oregon State
35-15, 17-12
Bruins Drop Middle Game to OSU, 6-4
May 13, 2023 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Senior right-hander Kelly Austin struck out a career-high 13 batters, but No. 15 Oregon State bashed three home runs to grab a series-evening 6-4 win over UCLA on Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The two teams traded the lead back and forth early, settling into a 4-4 tie after the fourth inning. However, OSU (35-15, 17-12 Pac-12) would hit solo homers in both the fifth and sixth innings to pull ahead for good, as relievers Ben Ferrer and Ryan Brown held the Bruins (26-20-1, 11-13-1) off the board the rest of the way.
Kelly and freshman righty Michael Barnett โ who tossed three scoreless frames to close out the game โ teamed up to strike out 15 batters in the game, matching UCLA's single-game high for the season.
Kelly's 13-strikeout output was the most by a Bruin pitcher this year, and the most since Max Rajcic had 14 against Washington State on May 13, 2022. It marked his second double-digit-K performance as a Bruin, following his 11-strikeout outing against Utah on Apr. 6 of this season.
Freshman left fielder Jarrod Hocking led the Bruins on offense on Saturday, going 3-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
He gave the Bruins their first, and only, lead of the game after lining a 3-2 offering from OSU starter Jacob Kmatz over the wall in left field for a two-run home run that made it 2-1 in the second inning. It was his third consecutive game with a HR, and extended his hitting streak to eight games. He later added a ground-double and a drag-bunt single, ultimately finishing a triple short of the cycle.
Redshirt sophomore center fielder AJ Salgado also had a big offensive moment for the Bruins, rolling a grounder through the right side in the fourth inning to plate Hocking and Josh Hahn, tying the game up at four-apiece after OSU had grabbed the lead in the top half of the inning.
UCLA's best chance to score in the back half of the game came in the eighth, as the Bruins got two aboard on Hocking's bunt hit and a soft liner from Hahn that bounced off the corner of the second-base bag and into the outfield for a single. However, the Bruins later had a runner thrown out on the basepaths on a JonJon Vaughns single, cutting the potential rally short.
Austin had the strikeout pitch working all day, picking up at least one K in each of his six innings, and striking out multiple batters in all but one frame.
He struck out the side in both the first and fourth innings, the former representing a solid escape act to limit the damage to one run after OSU got the first three batters of the inning on via a double, walk, and an error. Austin bounced back to fan the next three batters in a row to get out of that inning with no further damage.
OSU got to him for home runs in three straight innings starting in the fourth. The first was especially damaging, as Beavers leadoff man Travis Bazzana hit a three-run shot to right-center to turn a 1-2 deficit into a 4-2 lead. Micah McDowell added a solo shot the next inning that turned out to be decisive, and shortstop Kyle Dernedde added a solo homer in the sixth.
Barnett made quick work of the Beavers in the late innings, going without allowing a hit over his three innings of work. Only one man got on base against him, and that came on an error in the ninth inning.
Dating back to last weekend's series against Cal, that ROE represents the only person to reach base against Barnett over his last 21 batters faced.
Ferrer did the heavy lifting for OSU's bullpen, completing four shutout innings to pick up his first win of the year. Brown followed with a scoreless ninth to notch his ninth save of the year. Starter Jacob Kmatz allowed four earned runs on six hits over four innings.
UCLA and Oregon State decide the series on Sunday afternoon starting at 12:00 p.m. PT. The Bruins will honor their six senior student-athletes in a pregame ceremony.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ferrer, Ben (1-1)
L: Austin, Kelly (4-4)
S: Brown, Ryan (9)
Batting:
2B: Bazzana, Travis 1
HR: Bazzana, Travis 1 ; McDowell, Micah 1 ; Dernedde, Kyle 1
RBI: Bazzana, Travis 3 ; McDowell, Micah 1 ; Dernedde, Kyle 1
SH: McDowell, Micah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bazzana, Travis 2 ; McDowell, Micah 1 ; Kane, Mikey 1 ; Dernedde, Kyle 2
Batting:
2B: Reyes, Daylen 1 ; Hocking, Jarrod 1
HR: Hocking, Jarrod 1
RBI: Hocking, Jarrod 2 ; Salgado, AJ 2
SH: Perry, Darius 1 ; Vaughns, JonJon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Holman, Jack 1 ; Hocking, Jarrod 2 ; Hahn, Josh 1
