UCLA
10-13, 4-6
Arizona
11-13, 5-5
Arizona Walks Off UCLA in Series Opener, 5-3
March 28, 2024 | Baseball
TUCSON, Ariz. โ Brendan Summerhill hit a two-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the 10th to give Arizona a 5-3 win over UCLA in Thursday night's series opener at Hi Corbett Field.
Arizona (11-13, 5-5 Pac-12) never led until the game-winning hit, as UCLA (10-13, 4-6) built a 3-0 lead through the middle of the fourth. After the teams traded two-spots in the fourth, Arizona knotted it up at 3-3 in the eighth to send it to extras.
Fresh off a historic seven-hit performance, sophomore outfielder Payton Brennan once again led the Bruins on Thursday. With the bat, Brennan had a team-high three hits and reached base four times. He also made a pair of web-gem caliber diving catches in left field to prevent run-scoring opportunities for the hosts.
Junior center fielder Malakhi Knight also had a strong outing, going 2-5 at the plate and making a standout catch of his own at the wall in right-center field to prevent extra bases to Arizona in the sixth. Freshman DH Roman Martin added two hits and an RBI.
UCLA starter Luke Jewett delivered a strong six innings on Thursday, limiting Arizona to just two runs. He walked only one batter.
The host Wildcats were led by Summerhill and three-hitter Garen Caulfield, who had a double and a home run.
UCLA opened the scoring in the top of the first, as Cody Schrier led off the game with a single before moving to third after a Daylen Reyes grounder was misplayed by the Arizona third baseman. That mistake came back to cost the Wildcats, as Schrier would come across later in the inning on a Martin sac fly.
The Bruins stretched the lead to 3-0 with a crooked number in the fourth. Knight used his legs to spark that rally, reaching with a one-out single, moving into scoring position on a stolen bases, and then scoring after a throwing error by the Arizona catcher on a subsequent double steal. Reyes followed with an RBI single up the middle to cap the inning's scoring.
Arizona used the long ball in the late innings to tie it and eventually win the game. Caulfield got the hosts even with a home run to left center to lead off the eighth inning, setting up the Wildcats to walk it off in the 10th.
UCLA got a runner into scoring position in both the ninth and tenth innings, but couldn't come up with a big hit to drive a run in.
The two teams continue the series on Friday night at 7 p.m. PT. The game will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hintz, Casey (1-1)
L: Egan, Owen (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Cholowsky, Roch 1
RBI: Reyes, Daylen 1 ; Martin, Roman 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schrier, Cody 1 ; Knight, Malakhi 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1
SB: Knight, Malakhi 2 ; Brennan, Payton 2
HBP: Cholowsky, Roch 1
Batting:
2B: Caulfield, Garen 1 ; Breyfogle, Easton 1
HR: Caulfield, Garen 1 ; Summerhill, Brendan 1
RBI: Caulfield, Garen 1 ; Summerhill, Brendan 2 ; Corona, Emilio 1 ; Splaine, Tommy 1
SF: Corona, Emilio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Morales, Richie 1 ; Caulfield, Garen 1 ; Summerhill, Brendan 1 ; Breyfogle, Easton 1 ; Mihalakis, Maddox 1
HBP: Caulfield, Garen 1
