UCLA
28-24-1
Washington
33-17
UCLA Run Rules Washington, 17-4, to Wrap Pac-12 Tourney Play
May 24, 2023 | Baseball
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. โ The No. 7-seeded UCLA baseball team closed out its time at the 2023 Pac-12 Tournament with a run-rule-shortened 17-4 win over No. 3-seeded Washington on Wednesday afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium.
The Bruins (28-24-1) dominated on both sides of the ball against the Huskies (33-17), putting up four consecutive multi-run rallies starting in the second inning while starting pitcher Kelly Austin struck out a dozen batters over five solid frames. The game was called after seven innings due to the run differential.
With the result, the Bruins finish 1-1 in Pool C play. However, based on other results from around the tourney, UCLA is unable to win its pool or finish as the wild card team and is thus eliminated from the Pac-12 Tournament.
The Bruins got production from up and down the lineup on Wednesday, as all nine offensive starters recorded a hit, five drove in multiple runs, and four recorded multiple knocks.
Particularly-strong performances came from sophomore shortstop Duce Gourson (4-5, two RBIs), senior DH Josh Hahn (3-4, four RBIs, triple short of the cycle), and freshman second baseman Jarrod Hocking (3-3, reached five times).
The 4-6 spots in the order, consisting of sophomore first baseman Jack Holman (2-4, four runs), Hahn, and Hocking, combined to go 8-11 with 10 runs scored and six RBIs.
The overwhelming offensive production made an easy winner out of Austin, who was a standout in his own right. The senior right-hander punched out a dozen over his five innings of work, bringing his season total to 104 strikeouts and making him the first Bruin to hit the century mark for Ks since Ryan Garcia and Jack Ralston accomplished the feat in 2019.
Austin was particularly dominant early on, retiring eight in a row to start the game with seven of those outs coming via the strikeout. He finished with multiple strikeouts in four of five frames.
UCLA put up four crooked numbers in a row early on in the game, grabbing the lead for good with a four-spot in the second.
The Bruins strung together six singles during that go-ahead rally, with Hocking going the other way through the 3-4 hole to open the scoring with nobody out in the inning. Redshirt sophomore center fielder AJ Salgado later followed with a grounder up the middle that got off the glove of the UW second baseman and into shallow center field to plate a pair, and Gourson capped the four-spot with the first of his four base hits on the day, bringing in junior right fielder Carson Yates.
UCLA produced the game-winning run with a three-spot in the third. Holman and Hahn provided the charge for that rally, hitting back-to-back home runs on the first two pitches of the frame to make it 6-1 in UCLA's favor. Hocking later singled and scored on an RBI groundout to add another run.
Hahn sparked a second consecutive three-spot in the fourth, scorching a line drive past the Washington first baseman and into the right-field corner for a two-run double. He came around to score himself moments later on a JonJon Vaughns chopper that was kicked by the first baseman. That brought the Bruins into double digits at 10-3.
UCLA got into mercy rule territory in the fifth inning, combining four hits with some Washington miscues โ the Huskies made an error against the leadoff batter and issued four free passes in the frame โ to score seven runs.
Right-handed relievers Chris Aldrich and Cody Delvecchio finished it off with a scoreless frame apiece. Vaughns made a highlight-reel diving grab in the left-center field gap to record the final out of the game.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Austin, Kelly (5-4)
L: Engman, Jared (3-4)
Batting:
2B: Clayton, Cam 1 ; Guerrero, AJ 1
HR: Morales, Coby 1
RBI: Simpson, Will 1 ; Morales, Coby 1 ; Tincher, Johnny 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Morales, Coby 1 ; Guerrero, AJ 1 ; Tincher, Johnny 1 ; DeCarlo, Sam 1
Batting:
2B: Hahn, Josh 1
HR: Holman, Jack 1 ; Hahn, Josh 1
RBI: Reyes, Daylen 2 ; Gourson, Duce 2 ; Perry, Darius 1 ; Holman, Jack 1 ; Hahn, Josh 4 ; Hocking, Jarrod 1 ; Vaughns, JonJon 2 ; Salgado, AJ 4
SF: Hahn, Josh 1 ; Vaughns, JonJon 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Reyes, Daylen 1 ; Gourson, Duce 2 ; Perry, Darius 1 ; Holman, Jack 4 ; Hahn, Josh 3 ; Hocking, Jarrod 3 ; Yates, Carson 2 ; Salgado, AJ 1
HBP: Salgado, AJ 1
