UCLA Upends No. 9 Long Beach State, 5-1

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Gavin Johns went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, while Justin Hooper allowed just one run over 5.2 innings pitched as the UCLA baseball team defeated No. 9 Long Beach State, 5-1, from Blair Field on Tuesday. The Bruins sweep the season series with the Dirtbags after also winning last Tuesday, 2-1, over LBSU in 11 innings.

Long Beach State got on the board first with a solo home run in the opening frame, but UCLA responded with a pair of runs in the top of the second inning to take a 2-1 lead. Jack Stronach tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in Chase Strumpf, who began the inning with a double, followed by Johns driving in Michael Toglia from second base with a single up the middle.

Sean Bouchard would push the UCLA lead to 3-1 in the top of the third inning as he hit a solo home run deep to left-center field.

The Bruins extended its lead by scoring two more runs in the seventh inning as Stronach drove in his second run of the game with a groundball to the shortstop and Johns would record his second RBI with a single to left field to make the score 5-1.

UCLA starter Justin Hooper (1-0) earned his first win of the season tossing 5.2 innings, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts. LBSU's AJ Jones (1-2) suffers the loss as he allowed two runs, one earned, over 1.1 innings of work before leaving the game due to an injury.

UCLA (19-18) ended the game with five runs on 10 hits with no errors, while Long Beach State (25-14) finished with one run on seven hits and two errors.

The Bruins return to Jackie Robinson Stadium this weekend for a three-game non-conference series with Cal Poly starting on Friday at 6 p.m. (PT).

Game Notes: The Bruins played their eighth consecutive game against a top-25 ranked opponent and finished 5-3 over the stretch … Sean Bouchard hit his seventh home run of the season, good for third-most in Pac-12 conference … Gavin Johns drove in his first career run as a Bruin in the second inning … Johns set or matched career-highs in hits, RBIs and doubles … Justin Hooper set a career-high throwing 5.2 innings … The UCLA pitching staff collected double-digit strikeouts for the 13th game this season … The Bruins recorded double-digit hits for the 13th games this season … Jack Stronach recorded his first career stolen base and tied a career-high with two RBIs.