UCLA Advances To Finals Of College World Series After 10-3 Win Over TCU
June 26, 2010
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OMAHA, Neb. - The UCLA baseball team advanced to the finals of the College World Series with a 10-3 victory over TCU in an elimination contest that featured 100-degree temperatures on Saturday afternoon before 10,907 at Rosenblatt Stadium.
UCLA (51-15) scored five runs in the first inning, and right-hander Trevor Bauer (12-3) earned the win, striking out 13 batters while limiting TCU (54-14) to three runs (two earned) and four hits in eight innings.
The Bruins will play South Carolina (52-16) in a best-of-three championship series starting on Monday (Game 2 on Tuesday, if necessary Game 3 on Wednesday). Game time on each day is slated for 4:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. CT. Each contest of the championship series will be televised live on ESPN and will feature a live audio broadcast, free of charge, at uclabruins.com.
"We got back to Bruin baseball today," UCLA head coach John Savage said. "We got off to a great start with a five-run first inning. Trevor (Bauer) settled in and picked up some steam and got better as the game went along. We swung the bats well and had 15 hits. I'm very proud of the team. This is yet another level this team has gone, and we're looking forward to this coming week."
UCLA (51-15) received a 3-for-5, three-RBI effort from Blair Dunlap, who belted a three-run homer and finished with two runs scored. Dean Espy went 3-for-4 with two RBI, one home run and two RBI. In addition, Niko Gallego (2-for-3, three runs), Cody Regis (2-for-2, three walks, two RBI), Jeff Gelalich (2-for-5) and Chris Giovinazzo (2-for-4) each registered two hits for the Bruins.
Right-hander Dan Klein notched one strikeout in a 1-2-3 ninth inning for UCLA.
The Horned Frogs (54-14) were led at the plate by Bryan Holaday, who went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs. Only two other TCU hitters - Jantzen Witte and Taylor Featherston - registered hits in the ballgame.
TCU right-hander Kyle Winkler (12-3) absorbed the loss, surrendering three runs and two hits without getting an out as the Horned Frogs' starting pitcher. Winkler made just nine pitches in the first inning. With his team ahead 1-0 after Holaday's solo homer in the top of the first, Winkler surrendered a three-run homer to Dunlap before right-hander Paul Gerrish came on in relief. UCLA followed with an RBI-double by Gelalich and a run-scoring single by Espy, pushing the Bruins' margin to 5-1.
The Bruins added their sixth run in the second inning on a run-scoring double by Regis that chased Gerrish.
TCU chipped away at the Bruins' lead, scoring one in each of the fourth and fifth innings to cut UCLA's margin in half, 6-3.
UCLA scored twice in the bottom of the sixth, securing an 8-3 lead. Regis had a single up the middle to score Gallego, and Dunlap scored from third base on a passed ball. In the seventh, Espy hit his team lead-tying ninth home run of the year on the first pitch of the inning, extending UCLA's advantage to 9-3. Steve Rodriguez raced home on a double down the left field line hit by Beau Amaral that was mishandled by TCU's Jason Coats.
Bauer finished his eight-inning start by striking out the side in the top of the eighth inning. He finished the game striking out the final four batters he faced. With 13 strikeouts, he recorded his eighth game with 10-plus strikeouts, his third 10-plus strikeout performance in his last four starts.
The best-of-three championship series begins Monday, June 28, with first pitch slated for 4:30 p.m. PT/6:30 p.m. CT. Each game will be televised on ESPN, with Mike Patrick, Orel Hershiser and Robin Ventura in the broadcast booth and Erin Andrews and Kyle Peterson reporting from the dugouts.
Game Notes: Trevor Bauer picked up his third postseason victory, becoming the first-ever UCLA pitcher to win three postseason games in the same season ... with 13 strikeouts, Bauer assumed the national strikeout lead (165), 10 ahead of previous national leader Asher Wojciechowski from The Citadel (155) ... Bauer recorded at least one strikeout in each inning, finishing his day by striking out his last four batters in a row ... Bauer's 12 wins on the year are tied for fourth on the all-time single-season school list with Tim Leary (1979), Al Hoops (1968) and Bill Brasher (1964) ... Bauer is the first Bruin to record 12+ wins in a season since Jim Parque had 13 in 1997 ... Niko Gallego was hit by a pitch for the 18th time this year, tying the school record set by Eddie Murray in 2009 ... The Bruins were hit by pitches three times today, extending the school record to 100 ... Gallego scored three runs today, tying his career-high set Apr. 3, 2010 against Stanford ... Blair Dunlap registered a season-high three-RBI ... UCLA improved to 45-0 this season when scoring five or more runs ... Cody Regis extended his hitting streak to a season-high 12 consecutive games ... UCLA batted around in the first inning, marking the 10th game in which the Bruins have done so this year.