UCLA
6-11, 1-4
Washington State
10-7, 2-3
Bruins Drop Middle Game to Washington State
March 16, 2024 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team absorbed a 12-5 loss to Washington State on Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The result evened the Pac-12 series between the two teams at a game apiece. WSU improved to 10-7, 2-3 while the Bruins dropped to 6-11, 1-4.
UCLA led 3-1 after the first inning on Saturday, but the Cougars responded with a go-ahead three-spot the next half-inning before taking the lead good with a four-run fourth.
The Bruins had a balanced offense in the losing effort, with eight of nine starters collecting at least one hit. Senior left fielder JonJon Vaughns had the strongest day of any Bruin batter, going 2-4 with two RBIs including his first home run of the year.
Freshman righty Luke Rodriguez was the clear standout on the mound for UCLA, delivering 4 1/3 innings of one-run relief. After entering the game and getting the last out of the fourth, he went on to set down the Cougars in order in three of the next four innings.
The Bruins put together a three-spot in the bottom of the first to take their first, and ultimately only, lead of the contest. Four consecutive Bruins singled with one out to get that rally going, the last from Jack Holman scoring AJ Salgado to knot it up at 1-1. UCLA would go on to bring in runs on each of the next two plays, with freshman third baseman Roch Cholowsky driving in one on a sac fly before JonJon Vaughns capped the rally with an RBI single off the glove of the WSU second baseman.
Vaughns later added a solo shot off the batter's eye in center field to close UCLA's scoring ledger.
The Cougars were led by leadoff man Max Hartman (2-4, three RBIs), first baseman Joey Kramer (2-6, RBI), and DH Trey Cruz (1-5, four RBIs). Senior right-hander Duke Brotherton picked up the win for WSU after providing five innings of one-run relief after starter Connor Wilford yielded four runs in three frames. As a team, the Cougars drew 13 walks and had three hit batters.
UCLA and Washington State will decide the series on Sunday starting at 12 p.m. PT. Fans are reminded to check local traffic conditions due to the LA Marathon, which is also scheduled for Sunday morning.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Brotherton, Duke (2-1)
L: Kottinger, Caedon (0-2)
Batting:
2B: Cruz, Trey 1
RBI: Hartman, Max 3 ; Taggart, Casen 1 ; Kramer, Joey 1 ; Cruz, Trey 4 ; Swarts, Nate 1 ; Parke, Crew 2
SF: Taggart, Casen 1 ; Cruz, Trey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hartman, Max 1 ; Russell, Kyle 2 ; Taggart, Casen 2 ; Kramer, Joey 1 ; Cresswell, Will 1 ; Cramer, Cole 3 ; Swarts, Nate 1 ; Parke, Crew 1
SB: Hartman, Max 1 ; Cresswell, Will 1 ; Cramer, Cole 2
CS: Taggart, Casen 1
HBP: Hartman, Max 1 ; Swarts, Nate 1 ; Parke, Crew 1
Batting:
2B: Cholowsky, Roch 1
HR: Vaughns, JonJon 1
RBI: Holman, Jack 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Vaughns, JonJon 2 ; Landis, Quintt 1
SF: Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Landis, Quintt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Salgado, AJ 1 ; Gourson, Duce 1 ; Levu, Mulivai 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Vaughns, JonJon 1
HBP: Brennan, Payton 1
