University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Wins Seventh-Straight behind Record Setting Performance by Watson
PULLMAN – Senior Grant Watson became the winningest left-handed pitcher in UCLA history after recording his 26th career win on Saturday afternoon at Bailey-Brayton Field, in Pullman, Wash. The Bruins defeated the Washington State Cougars, 6-1, to clinch their third consecutive weekend series win to begin Pac-12 Conference play.
Watson passes Jim Parque on the all-time list to move into first place among left-handed pitchers. The Bakersfield, Calif. native also moves into a tie with Bill Brasher for fifth among all pitchers in career wins.
Watson (4-2) struck out a season-high six batters and allowed one run on three hits in six innings to earn the victory. Washington State’s Joe Pistorese (3-3) garnered the loss after allowing six runs in seven innings.
Sophomore right fielder Luke Persico (3-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI) led the Bruins at the plate, recording his eighth multi-hit game. Additionally, Kevin Kramer (1-for-4, R, 2 RBI) drove in a pair of runs and extended his on-base streak to 12 games.
The game was scoreless through the first five frames before UCLA (20-5, 7-1) broke out for three runs in top of the sixth. With one out and runners on first and second, Persico doubled to deep right center to bring Trent Chatterton in from second and Kramer in from first to put the initial two runs on the board. Persico, who advanced to third on the throw home, then came into score the third run on the next play when Ty Moore delivered a stinging single into left field.
The Bruins struck for another three runs one inning later to go up 6-0 on the Cougars. In a similar situation, with runners on first and second with one out, Brett Urabe served a double into the left field corner to score Nick Kern from second base. One batter later, Kramer singled up the middle to score Chatterton and Urabe from second and third.
Washington State (12-13, 1-7) finally got on the board in the bottom half of the seventh inning to cut the deficit to five. An RBI-double from Ian Sagdal plated Wes Hatten, who led the inning off with a single, to make the score 6-1 after seven.
The UCLA bullpen proceeded to come in and shut the door in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve the win for the Bruins. Grant Dyer pitched a perfect eighth and David Berg pitched a perfect ninth to cap the Bruins’ season-high seventh consecutive win.
The final game of the series between UCLA and Washington State will begin tomorrow at 12:00pm PT at Bailey-Brayton Field, in Pullman, Wash. Fans can listen to the action live at uclabruins.com.
Notes: UCLA has now won all six weekend series match-ups to begin the season. This marks the sixth consecutive series win for UCLA over Washington State. Kevin Kramer has recorded at least one hit in 21 of 25 games this season. David Berg has recorded 36 strikeouts in 24.2 innings, posting a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 18/1. Nick Kern made his first start of the season.