UCLA
12-18
Pepperdine
12-21
UCLA Drops Tuesday Contest to Pepperdine
April 09, 2024 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team allowed just five hits as a team, but logged a 10-2 midweek loss to Pepperdine on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
With the result, the Bruins dropped to 12-18 overall on the year. Pepperdine improved to 12-21.
Seven Bruin pitchers combined on the five-hitter, but UCLA struggled with control and defensive execution throughout the night. UCLA walked 10 batters in the game โ just the second time this season that Bruin pitchers issued double-digit free passes โ hit another three, and committed three errors in the field.
UCLA had six hits on the offensive end, including a 2-3 night from redshirt junior right fielder AJ Salgado. Junior second baseman Duce Gourson and sophomore left fielder Payton Brennan each drove in a run.
The two teams traded single runs in the first inning, but Pepperdine pulled away by scoring in four consecutive frames starting in the fourth. The visitors loaded the bases with nobody out in the go-ahead fourth-inning rally on two walks and a hit by pitch, ultimately cashing in all three to take a 4-1 lead.
At the end of the night, Pepperdine had just one run-scoring hit in the game โ a first-inning homer from Connor Bradshaw โ and only four of their runs came on balls put in play.
Despite the end result, several UCLA hurlers had notable nights on the mound.
Starter Luke Rodriguez was solid over his three innings of work, striking out three and limiting Pepperdine to just one hit and no runs other than the Bradshaw solo shot in the opening frame.
Freshman lefty Will Goldberg made his collegiate debut in the fifth inning, striking out the side without allowing a hit. The Waves did get an unearned run against him.
Senior righty JonJon Vaughns retired the first six batters he faced after coming on to start the seventh inning, and his final line was only marred by Pepperdine cashing in a leadoff single off him in the ninth after he had come out of the game.
Frosh southpaw Kaena Kiakona also made his NCAA debut in the contest, getting an out in the ninth inning.
Pepperdine used four pitchers in the contest, with the quartet combining to go the whole game without issuing a walk. Lefty Adam Troy got the win after delivering two innings of one-run ball as the first man out of the pen, and Wave relievers teamed up to hold the Bruins off the scoreboard in each of the last four innings of the game.
UCLA returns to action this weekend, traveling to Seattle for a three-game Pac-12 series at Washington starting on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. PT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Troy,Adam (1-1)
L: Gobel, Matthew (0-1)
Batting:
HR: Bradshaw,Connor 1
RBI: Renck,Brady 2 ; Rubin,Justin 1 ; Bradshaw,Connor 2 ; Masino,Charles 1 ; Walsh,Connor 1 ; Upstill,Nick 1 ; Hemmingsen,Corwin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rubin,Justin 1 ; Bradshaw,Connor 3 ; Nunez,Julian 2 ; Masino,Charles 1 ; Upstill,Nick 1 ; Pemberton,Luke 1 ; Savage,Andrew 1
SB: Bradshaw,Connor 2
HBP: Nunez,Julian 1 ; Masino,Charles 1 ; Hemmingsen,Corwin 1
Batting:
RBI: Brennan, Payton 1 ; Gourson, Duce 1
SF: Gourson, Duce 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Salgado, AJ 1 ; Reyes, Daylen 1
CS: Cholowsky, Roch 1
HBP: Landis, Quintt 1 ; Reyes, Daylen 1
PO: Landis, Quintt 1
