UCLA
3-1
TCU
5-0
UCLA Edged in Friday Night Contest at TCU, 4-3
February 23, 2024 | Baseball
FORT WORTH, Texas โ The No. 20-ranked UCLA baseball team hung close with No. 5 TCU in Friday night's series-opener at Lupton Stadium, but ultimately dropped a 4-3 decision.
The Bruins (3-1) fell behind 3-0 after three innings, but plated single runs in each of the next two frames to make it close.
The two teams were separated by one run for much of the back half of the game, with UCLA having legitimate chances to tie it in the seventh and the eighth. However, the Bruins stranded a runner at second in the former, and had a leadoff walk wiped out by a double play in the eighth.
Six different UCLA batters collected hits on Friday. Junior center fielder Malakhi Knight led the UCLA offense, as he went 1-3 with the team's only extra-base hit (a fifth-inning double) while finishing as one of four Bruins to reach base multiple times.
Freshman first baseman Mulivai Levu got UCLA on the board in the fourth, rolling one back up the middle to score junior second baseman Duce Gourson from second base.
Knight keyed another scoring frame for the Bruins in the fifth, as he led off the inning by lofting a fly ball that landed at the base of the right-field foul pole for a two-bagger. He later came in to score on an RBI groundout from Daylen Reyes that made it a 3-2 game in TCU's favor.
The Horned Frogs (5-0) responded with the eventual game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth on a solo homer from Brody Green.
However, UCLA would put together a rally in the seventh to make it a tense game again. Jack Holman sparked the rally for the Bruins by wearing an 0-1 offering to reach base, where he was replaced by freshman outfielder Phoenix Call. Reyes and pinch-hitter AJ Salgado followed with opposite-field singles on consecutive at-bats, bringing in Call and giving UCLA two on with just one away.
The next two batters each squared up fly balls, but they were tracked down by TCU's corner outfielders.
The Horned Frogs never trailed in contest after first baseman Kurtis Byrne skied a fly ball over the left field fence for a two-run homer in the second inning. TCU then punished UCLA starter Luke Jewett for a leadoff walk in the third, as that runner moved to third on a run-and-hit play before scoring on a sac fly to make it 3-0.
Jewett was solid over a career-long six innings, allowing just five hits while striking out five. He bookended his start with a pair of 1-2-3 frames, finishing his outing by getting Karson Bowen to chase a curveball in the dirt for an inning-ending strikeout in the sixth.
Freshman Landon Stump and sophomore Cody Delvecchio completed the final two innings for UCLA.
Tolle picked up the win for the Horned Frogs after striking out seven in five innings while allowing two earned runs. Southpaw Ben Abeldt locked down a two-inning save for the hosts.
UCLA and TCU continue the series on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed live via Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Tolle, Payton (1-0)
L: Jewett, Luke (0-1)
S: Abeldt, Ben (3)
Batting:
2B: Knight, Malakhi 1
RBI: Reyes, Daylen 1 ; Salgado, AJ 1 ; Levu, Mulivai 1
SH: Landis, Quintt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gourson, Duce 1 ; Knight, Malakhi 1 ; Call, Phoenix 1
SB: Gourson, Duce 1
HBP: Holman, Jack 1
Batting:
3B: Chatagnier, Peyton 1
HR: Byrne, Kurtis 1 ; Green, Brody 1
RBI: Silva, Anthony 1 ; Byrne, Kurtis 2 ; Green, Brody 1
SF: Silva, Anthony 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chatagnier, Peyton 1 ; Tolle, Payton 1 ; Byrne, Kurtis 1 ; Green, Brody 1
CS: Byrne, Kurtis 1
HBP: Tolle, Payton 1 ; Boyers, Luke 1
