UCLA
4-3
Nevada
4-3
UCLA Rallies For 5-4 Midweek Win Over Nevada
February 27, 2024 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team pushed across four runs in the seventh inning to record a comeback 5-4 win over Nevada on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bruins (4-3) were playing their first midweek game of the season after last a game scheduled for Feb. 20 against LMU was postponed due to rain. Nevada dropped to 4-3 with the loss.
UCLA was led by its left side of the infield. Junior shortstop Cody Schrier continued his hot start with a three-hit night, including a double. Freshman third baseman Roch Cholowsky had the most impactful at-bat of the game, lining a two-run double into the right-center field gap to cap the four-run seventh and give the Bruins their first lead of the night. That go-ahead two-bagger turned out to be the final run of the game.
After a strikeout to open the bottom of the seventh, each of UCLA's next four hitters reached base to force in a run and set the foundation for the rally. Redshirt junior righty fielder AJ Salgado and Schrier opened the streak with back-to-back infield singles, and then junior second baseman Duce Gourson and freshman first baseman Mulivai Levu each drew a walk to bring in a run. Schrier later came across on a wild pitch before Cholowsky's go-ahead knock.
UCLA's late-inning duo of sophomore Cody Delvecchio and graduate Rashad Ruff shut the door the rest of the way. Delvecchio got the eighth inning and set down the Wolf Pack in order, and Ruff bounced back from a leadoff single to record a scoreless ninth to lock down his second save of the year.
Nevada led for most of the game after building a 3-0 lead through two innings. Right fielder Bryce Matthews opened the game's scoring with a two-run homer in the first, and Nevada added a run on a Jake Harvey RBI single in the second.
UCLA freshman right-hander Landon Stump went five strong innings in his debut collegiate start, allowing four earned runs while striking out six against two walks.
He settled down after allowing three runs in his first two frames, retiring seven consecutive batters at one point including a stretch of four consecutive strikeouts over the third and fourth innings.
Stump was proceeded by senior righty Caedon Kottinger, who went 1-2-3 in the sixth and yielded just an infield single over 1 1/3 innings. Junior right-hander Nate Leibold ended up as the pitcher of record after retiring both batters he faced in the top of the seventh.
UCLA plays a second consecutive midweek on Wednesday night, hosting Long Beach State at 5 p.m. PT. The Bruins will then host the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic over the weekend, culminating in a 3 p.m. meeting with UC Irvine at Chavez Ravine on Sunday, Mar. 3.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Leibold, Nate (1-0)
L: DESCH, Dominic (0-1)
S: Ruff, Rashad (2)
Batting:
2B: BALL, Michael 1 ; HARVEY, Jake 1
HR: MATTHEWS, Bryce 1
RBI: FREETHY, JR 1 ; MATTHEWS, Bryce 2 ; HARVEY, Jake 1
SF: FREETHY, JR 1
Base Running:
RUNS: WILSON, Nolan 1 ; MATTHEWS, Bryce 1 ; BALL, Michael 1 ; HARVEY, Jake 1
PO: PIERCE, Jesse 1
Batting:
2B: Schrier, Cody 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 1
RBI: Levu, Mulivai 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 2 ; Brennan, Payton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Salgado, AJ 1 ; Schrier, Cody 2 ; Gourson, Duce 1 ; Levu, Mulivai 1
HBP: Holman, Jack 1
PO: Cholowsky, Roch 1
