UCLA Notches 14-8 Win Over Washington
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Sophomore third baseman Kyle Karros and junior right-fielder Michael Curialle combined for nine hits, four doubles, and six RBIs to lead No. 3 seed UCLA to a 14-8 win over No. 7 seed Washington on Thursday afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium.
The result represented the first-ever Pac-12 Tournament win for the Bruins (36-21), who hit a season-high seven doubles as a team.
Washington, which dropped to 30-26 overall, was eliminated from the tourney.
The right-handed duo of Karros and Curialle was crucial for the Bruins, accounting for half of the squad's 18 hits.
Karros went 5-5 with a pair of doubles, setting a new-career high in hits while matching a previous career-best with four runs driven in. Paired with his 3-3 performance in the Pac-12 opener, Karros has reached base in his first nine plate appearances of the tournament.
Curialle meanwhile went 4-6 with two doubles and two RBIs, matching a career-high for hits.
Elsewhere, freshman shortstop Ethan Gourson had three singles and made a highlight-reel play on a liner to end the third inning, and sophomore center fielder Carson Yates went 2-4. Daylen Reyes, Jake Moberg, and Josh Hahn each added a double.
The game was close through the first half, with the teams trading the lead until a three-spot for UW made it 6-6 at the end of the fifth. The Bruins began to pull away from there, however, outscoring the Huskies 8-2 the rest of the way.
UCLA went ahead for good with a single run in the top of the sixth – Reyes pulled a grounder inside the third-base bag for a one-out double before coming across on a solid Curialle base hit – and pulled away with back-to-back crooked numbers in the two proceeding frames.
Hahn had the big hit of a four-run seventh, poking an 0-2 pitch down the left-field line for a two-run double. Graduate first baseman Jake Palmer followed with a bounce-single over the third baseman that scored two more.
A leadoff Curialle double deep into the left-center field gap started a streak of five consecutive batters reaching base for UCLA in the eighth, with three runners ultimately coming across. Karros and Yates collected RBI knocks during the rally.
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Kelly Austin picked up the win for UCLA in relief, allowing just a solo homer over 1 1/3 innings. Freshman closer Alonzo Tredwell finished off the last three frames – yielding just one run – en route to his sixth save of the year.
UCLA returns to action on Friday night at approximately 7:00 p.m. PT, playing an elimination game against the loser of Thursday night's California-Oregon State matchup.