UCLA
11-16, 4-9
Oregon
21-7, 7-3
UCLA Falls in Oregon Opener, 8-4
April 05, 2024 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA baseball team absorbed an 8-4 loss to No. 20-ranked Oregon in Friday night's series opener at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bruins (11-16, 4-9 Pac-12) allowed just three earned runs in the contest, but Oregon (21-7, 7-3) rapped out 14 hits as a team while limiting UCLA to just six.
UCLA briefly led after scoring a pair to go up 2-1 in the third, but Oregon went ahead for good with a four-spot in the fourth. The Ducks went on to separate with a single run in the sixth and a two-run double with two outs in the ninth.
The latter marred what had been a standout effort from the UCLA bullpen, as right-handers Caedon Kottinger and JonJon Vaughns had combined to limit the visitors to a single unearned run over 4 2/3 innings.
Six different Bruins collected a hit in Friday's contest. UCLA had two extra-base hits on the night, and they came on successive at-bats to fuel the Bruins' go-ahead two spot in the third.
Redshirt junior right fielder AJ Salgado got the Bruins on the board with a solo homer to left, going the opposite way with a 1-2 offering and lining it into the netting over the left-field wall. Freshman left fielder Payton Brennan followed with a triple off the top of the wall in right, and he would come around to score moments later on a base hit from junior center fielder Malakhi Knight.
UCLA would score two more in the sixth inning to make it a two-run game. Freshman catcher Cashel Dugger had the big knock of that rally, lining a 3-2 pitch from Oregon starter RJ Gordon into shallow right field to plate freshman first baseman Mulivai Levu. Later in the inning, Salgado picked up his second RBI of the game with a liner to center field that required a diving catch, bringing in Roch Cholowsky for a sac fly.
Oregon was led by the middle of its order, as the 3-4-5-6 combo of Jacob Walsh, Jeffery Heard, Anson Aroz, and DH Smith went 9-19 with six RBIs. Walsh put the Ducks ahead for good with a two-run homer in the fourth, and Heard added a two-run two-bagger in the ninth.
UCLA and Oregon continue the series on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gordon, RJ (4-2)
L: Jewett, Luke (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Heard, Jeffery 1
HR: Walsh, Jacob 1
RBI: Walsh, Jacob 2 ; Heard, Jeffery 2 ; Smith, Drew 2 ; Garate, Carter 1
SH: Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Garate, Carter 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Bennett 2 ; Walsh, Jacob 2 ; Heard, Jeffery 2 ; Molony, Maddox 1 ; Garate, Carter 1
HBP: Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Smith, Drew 1
PO: Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Molony, Maddox 1
Batting:
3B: Brennan, Payton 1
HR: Salgado, AJ 1
RBI: Knight, Malakhi 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1 ; Salgado, AJ 2
SH: Knight, Malakhi 1
SF: Salgado, AJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brennan, Payton 1 ; Levu, Mulivai 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Salgado, AJ 1
HBP: Gourson, Duce 1 ; Vaughns, JonJon 1
