UCLA
12-16, 5-9
Oregon
21-8, 7-4
Bruins Walk Off Oregon in Extras to Even Series
April 06, 2024 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Graduate catcher Quintt Landis drew a walk with the bases loaded to force in a run and capture a 4-3 walk-off win over Oregon in 10 innings on Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The result evened the Pac-12 series at one game apiece between the Bruins (12-16, 5-9) and Ducks (21-8, 7-4).
The free pass to Landis capped off an inning full of high-leverage moments, as UCLA got the leadoff man aboard in the tenth, setting up a back-and-forth of situational plays between the Ducks and Bruins.
After Cashel Dugger's leadoff roller back up the middle, UCLA really got into business after Oregon pitcher Ryan Featherston slipped on the third-base side of the infield grass while attempting to field a Payton Brennan sac bunt, giving the Bruins two aboard with nobody out.
Oregon got to the doorstep of escaping the jam after Featherston struck out two of next three batters โ freshman shortstop Roch Cholowsky walked to load the bases in between those two Ks โ and the visitors went to the bullpen to get a left-on-left matchup against UCLA's JonJon Vaughns. The Bruins countered by inserting the right-hitting Landis into the game as a pinch-hitter, and the Pepperdine transfer worked the count full before watching a fastball from Oregon's Bradley Mullan go high and outside for a game-ending walk.
WALK-OFF FINAL: UCLA 4, Oregon 3 (10 inn.)
โ UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) April 7, 2024
It's a walk-off walk as the Bruins even the series with an extra-innings win in game two over Oregon!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/TpmZZxYfwS
Prior to the go-ahead rally, UCLA hadn't led until the third inning. The Bruins went ahead with a two-spot in that frame, with Cholowsky serving as the catalyst for that rally. First, Cholowsky found the gap in left-center field on a hit-and-run play for an RBI double that put UCLA ahead, 2-1. A few moments later, Cholowsky came across to score on a wild pitch to move the lead to 3-1.
UCLA used just three pitchers in the contest, with all three doing a good job of keeping the potent Ducks offense at bay.
Sophomore righty Michael Barnett drew the start and limited Oregon to three hits and two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings.
Freshman Luke Rodriguez and senior Rashad Ruff then got seven outs apiece out of the bullpen, combining to allow just one hit and no runs. The relief duo also struck out seven over a combined 4 2/3 innings.
Rodriguez had the highest-leverage moment for Bruin pitchers in the second half of the game, as he was called in to preserve a 3-3 tie after Oregon had got two aboard with one out in the sixth. After walking the first batter he faced, Rodriguez bounced back to get a backwards K before ending the frame with a harmless pop-up in foul territory in front of the Oregon dugout.
He went on to retire seven straight before making way for Ruff after a bad-luck triple with two outs in the eighth, and Ruff responded by getting an inning-ending strikeout of the first batter he faced. Ruff quickly got the Bruins back in the dugout in his two subsequent innings, allowing just a two-out walk in the ninth before turning in a 1-2-3 tenth.
Oregon recorded just four hits as a team, including a solo homer to lead off the game from center fielder Bryce Boettcher. The result snapped a six-game winning streak for the Ducks, who entered Saturday's contest having won 10 of their last 11 games.
UCLA and Oregon will decide the series with a Sunday rubber match. First pitch from Jackie Robinson Stadium is scheduled for 12 p.m. PT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ruff, Rashad (2-3)
L: Featherston, Ryan (1-1)
Batting:
3B: Molony, Maddox 1
HR: Boettcher, Bryce 1
RBI: Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Walsh, Jacob 1
SF: Walsh, Jacob 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Boettcher, Bryce 2 ; Thompson, Bennett 1
HBP: Boettcher, Bryce 1 ; Smith, Drew 1 ; Molony, Maddox 1
Batting:
2B: Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Gourson, Duce 1
RBI: Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Landis, Quintt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Knight, Malakhi 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Reyes, Daylen 1 ; Call, Phoenix 1
SB: Martin, Roman 1
HBP: Martin, Roman 1
