Bruins Drop Tuesday Game to UC Irvine, 4-2
LOS ANGELES – No. 13 UCLA loaded the bags and got the go-ahead run on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, but couldn't rally all the way back in a 4-2 loss to UC Irvine on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The decision represented the first midweek loss for the Bruins (27-13) since Feb. 23, breaking a streak of seven consecutive victories in Tuesday games. The Anteaters improved to 23-15.
UCLA led 2-1 after five innings, but UCI went ahead for good with a two-spot in the sixth. The Anteaters added an insurance run on a solo homer in the ninth, and then weathered the ninth-inning charge from the Bruins.
After a strikeout to lead off the frame, the Bruins got into business in the last of the ninth after back-to-back walks to Darius Perry and Kenny Oyama. The next batter, Cody Schrier, legged out a potential double play ball to keep the inning alive, which allowed the Bruins to load the bases after graduate first baseman Jake Palmer wore a 2-1 pitch.
However, UCI closer Troy Taylor stopped the damage there, inducing a game-ending groundout to second.
Schrier, who went 2-5 with a double, led the Bruins on offense. Palmer, playing against his undergraduate alma mater for the first time, singled in the eighth to extend his reached-base streak to a team-best 22 games.
On the mound, the Bruins spread the game out over four pitchers. Redshirt sophomore righty Kelly Austin drew the start and allowed just one earned run over three innings while striking out four.
Charles Harrison was a tough-luck loser for UCLA, departing the game after allowing the first two runners of the sixth to reach on a ground single and a two-strike HBP. Both of those runners would later be cashed in as part of a go-ahead two spot for the visitors. Harrison had faced the minimum over his first two innings of work.
UCLA returns to action this weekend with a three-game Pac-12 home series against Arizona State starting on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. PT. All three games this weekend will be streamed live on Pac-12.com.