Bauer Strikes Out 14, Leads No. 23 UCLA Past No. 8 Arizona State, 7-0
May 28, 2011
Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) 
2011 Media Guide (Viewable) | 2011 Media Guide (PDF)
TEMPE, Ariz. - Right-hander Trevor Bauer hurled his eighth consecutive complete game, striking out 14 batters and walking one, as the No. 23 UCLA baseball team blanked No. 8 Arizona State, 7-0, earning a share of the Pac-10 Conference title.
UCLA (33-21, 18-8) secured its first series victory at Arizona State (38-16, 16-10) since 2003 and clinched a portion of the Pac-10 Conference championship for the first time since sharing the title with Arizona State and Stanford in 2000.
Bauer (12-2) fired his third complete game shutout of the season, his ninth complete game this year and 14th in his career. The resident of Valencia, Calif., limited the host Sun Devils to five hits through nine innings, striking out the final four batters he faced.
A victory by UCLA or loss by Oregon State (at Oregon) on Sunday would allow UCLA to secure an outright Pac-10 Championship. The Bruins last won an outright Pac-10 Conference title in 1986 as winners of the South Division.
Saturday's victory marked UCLA's 10th shutout of the season, tying a school record established in 1969.
Dean Espy ignited the Bruins' offense with a 4-for-4 effort, four RBI and two runs. The native of Mesa, Ariz., belted his third home run of the season and had one double. Cody Regis went 1-for-4 with a towering two-run homer in the first inning, and Jeff Gelalich went 2-for-5 with two runs.
Arizona State right-hander Kramer Champlin (8-3) was tagged with the loss, surrendering seven runs (six runs) and 10 hits in seven innings. Champlin registered eight strikeouts and no walks.
UCLA jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Beau Amaral led off with a triple to right-center, extending his hitting streak to a season-high 14 games. Espy plated Amaral with a double to left-center field and scored on a two-out home run to right field by Regis.
The Bruins added two more runs in the top of the fifth. With one out, Beau Amaral bunted down the first base line and reached safely as Champlin's high throw pulled first baseman Zach Wilson off the bag. Consecutive one-out singles to left field by Gelalich, Espy and Cody Keefer scored two UCLA runs.
UCLA extended its cushion to 7-0 as Espy blasted a two-run home run to center field in the top of the seventh.
The Bruins conclude their regular-season schedule at Arizona State on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Fans can listen to a live audio broadcast of the final regular-season contest online, free of charge, at uclabruins.com.
The 64-team NCAA Tournament field will be revealed on ESPN at 9:30 a.m. on Monday. The 16 NCAA Regional host sites will be announced on ncaasports.com on Sunday at roughly 12:30 p.m.
Game Notes: UCLA earned its first series victory over Arizona State since 2006 and its first series win over the Sun Devils at Packard Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., since 2003 ... the Bruins snapped a streak of 30 consecutive weekend series victories at Packard Stadium by Arizona State (last lost a weekend series at home to Oregon State in April 2008) ... Trevor Bauer moved into second place on the Pac-10 Conference's single-season strikeouts list (189) and trails Mark Prior's Pac-10 record (202) by 13 ... Bauer is now tied for second place on UCLA's career complete games list (14) with Tim O'Neill and Ed Cowan.