UCLA
2-0
Gonzaga
0-2
UCLA Clinches Gonzaga Series, Sunday Finale Moved Up to Noon
February 17, 2024 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 22-ranked UCLA baseball team scored in each of its first four offensive innings and never looked back in a 10-3 win over Gonzaga on Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The result clinched a series win for the Bruins (2-0). Due to forecasted rain in the area, UCLA and Gonzaga will conclude the series on Sunday starting at noon (originally scheduled for 1 p.m. PT).
Junior shortstop Cody Schrier (4-5, three runs) and freshman first baseman Mulivai Levu (3-5, three RBIs) led the Bruins offensively, while junior second baseman Duce Gourson and junior right fielder AJ Salgado each contributed home runs in the winning effort.
Sophomore right-hander Finn McIlroy went five strong to earn the win in his first-ever collegiate start, limiting the Bulldogs (0-2) to just one run on five hits.
UCLA never trailed in the game, putting up a three-spot in the first inning and building a 5-0 advantage by the end of the third.
The Bruins came out hot offensively, taking a 2-0 lead after just two batters. Freshman outfielder Dean West sparked the rally with a leadoff double, then came around moments later when Gourson lofted a fly ball over the wall in right-center field for a two-run homer. Schrier and Levu followed with singles, and Schrier ultimately came around on a run-scoring double play to cap the three-spot.
UCLA kept up the pressure its next time up, posting a decisive two-spot. Salgado led off that frame with an opposite-field solo home run, and freshman catcher Cashel Dugger – who went 2-2 in his collegiate debut – singled and later scored on a balk.
Dugger and Levu chipped in RBI singles in the third and fourth innings, respectively, to extend UCLA's scoring streak and make it 7-1. Dating back to Friday night's 8-7 comeback win, the Bruins scored in five consecutive innings against the Bulldogs.
The latter half of the game saw plenty of offense from the Bruins as well. Schrier put an exclamation point on his day with a solo homer to center in the sixth, and Levu drove in two more with an RBI knock back up the middle in the last of the eighth.
The double-digit run production turned out to be more than enough for McIlroy – who largely kept Gonzaga in check over his career-long five-inning outing – and the Bruin bullpen.
McIlroy had to pitch around a leadoff error in the top of the first, but otherwise went mostly unthreatened by the Bulldog lineup. He made quick work of Gonzaga with a 1-2-3 third inning and, after being punished for a leadoff walk in the fourth to the tune of his only run against, came back with a quick fifth before departing the game.
Freshman righty Luke Rodriguez and senior right-hander Caedon Kottinger took over the rest of the way, chipping in two frames apiece. Rodriguez finished with three strikeouts in his collegiate debut, and Kottinger induced double plays in both the eighth and ninth to end up facing the minimum over his two innings of work.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: McIlroy, Finn (1-0)
L: Payton Graham (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Sam Stem 1
HR: Donovan Ratfield 1
RBI: Donovan Ratfield 1 ; Josh Hankins 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sam Stem 1 ; Jace Phelan 1 ; Donovan Ratfield 1
HBP: Hank Dunn 1 ; Max Coupe 1
Batting:
2B: West, Dean 1
HR: Gourson, Duce 1 ; Schrier, Cody 1 ; Salgado, AJ 1
RBI: Gourson, Duce 2 ; Schrier, Cody 1 ; Levu, Mulivai 3 ; Salgado, AJ 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: West, Dean 1 ; Gourson, Duce 3 ; Schrier, Cody 3 ; Holman, Jack 1 ; Salgado, AJ 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1
HBP: West, Dean 1 ; Holman, Jack 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1
