Bruins Drop Tuesday Game at UCI, 9-6
IRVINE, Calif. – The UCLA baseball team endured a 9-6 loss to No. 16 UC Irvine on Tuesday night at Anteater Ballpark.
It was the final Tuesday contest of the year for the Bruins (16-30), who finished the year at 5-6 in midweek competition.
UCLA doubled up the Anteaters (35-10) in the hit column at 12-6, but the Bruins also struck out a season-high 15 times while issuing 14 free passes on mound (10 walks, four HBPs). UCI went ahead 6-0 after two innings on back-to-back crooked numbers, and never relinquished the lead.
The Bruins were led on offense by redshirt junior right fielder AJ Salgado, who had a game-high three hits in five at-bats. Junior second baseman Duce Gourson added a solo homer and extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 2-4 performance, and freshman Roman Martin hit a three-run pinch-hit homer to highlight a five-run UCLA fifth.
UCLA used six pitchers in the contest.
Starter Landon Stump allowed six runs over two innings, but only two of those were earned.
Of the five relievers to come out of the bullpen, standout efforts came from freshman righty Cal Randall, who tossed a scoreless third, and senior right-hander Caedon Kottinger, who faced the minimum over the final 1 1/3 innings of the game.
The majority of UCLA's offense came during the fifth inning.
Martin's homer – a moonshot that cleared the high wall in left field – opened the scoring in the rally and got the Bruins on the board. But UCLA continued to rally after the homer, with the next four Bruins in a row collecting hits to plate two more.
Gourson chipped in the solo homer in the top of the ninth to get the Bruins back within three, but the margin would remain there.
Eight of nine starters reached base for Irvine. Chase Call had two doubles and an RBI, and Will Bermudez went 2-3 with two RBIs.
UCLA returns to action this weekend with a three-game Pac-12 set at No. 7 Oregon State, starting on Friday night at 7 p.m. PT. All three games of the series will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.