#14 Bruins Will Try to Get Back on Track When They Host LMU
The Bruins fell from #2 to #14 in this week's poll after dropping two games to USF over the weekend.
What probably should have been a 3-0 weekend series turned into one win and two losses when the Bruins lost on Sunday to San Francisco, 8-3. It was certainly a disappointing way to begin the season. Tonight, UCLA will have a chance to get back to .500 when they host LMU in their first midweek game of the season at 5 pm PT. Tonight’s game won’t be broadcast or streamed. So, you will have to follow along the old-fashioned way with just audio.
Last Time Out
Things started well for the Bruins when Matt McLain hit a two-out solo homer to left to give UCLA the early lead.
USF tied it up in the top of the second with a one-out single to left that scored a run, but the Bruins bounced right back and re-took the lead in the bottom half of the inning on a double with a fielding error which scored both Mikey Perez and Jack Filby.
But that was the end of the Bruin offense for the day as UCLA would strand their final six baserunners.
Unfortunately, San Francisco wasn’t stymied like the Bruins. The Dons scored again in the top of the third and again in the top of the seventh with both runs being charged to starter Nick Nastrini. That tied the game heading into the final two innings.
Jake Saum came in to pitch the eighth and the Dons played small ball to take the lead 4-3. In the ninth, San Francisco picked up four insurance runs off Kyle Mora and that was all she wrote.
Loyola Marymount
The good news is that the Lions started the season about as badly as the Bruins. The bad news is that they did so against a Pac-12 opponent in the Trojans, rather than a WCC school like the Dons.
Anyway, that shouldn’t matter. What will matter are the pitchers. Head coach John Savage will have righthanded junior Sean Mullen take the hill while LMU goes with sophomore southpaw Diego Barrera. Neither pitcher has thrown well so far this season. Mullen currently has a 9.00 ERA based on one earned run in one inning pitched. At least Barrera’s infinite ERA is based on his inability to get against the batters he has faced. He gave up a hit to each and that resulted in two earned runs being charged to him.
Hopefully, tonight’s game ends up being an opportunity for the Bruin bats to get going.
#2 UCLA Baseball (1-2)
Opponent: Loyola Marymount Lions (1-2)
Game Time: 5:00 pm PT, Tuesday, February 23, 2021
Where: Jackie Robinson Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Pitching Matchup:
UCLA - Sean Mullen, RHP, Jr. (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
LMU - Diego Barrera, LHP, So. (0-0, INF ERA)
Media:
Live TV/Stream: None
Live Audio: uclabruins.com with Tim Wilhelm
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes
UCLA
This is your UCLA vs. Loyola Marymount midweek game one open thread.
Go Bruins!
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Bruins win 5-2. Mullen did a nice job in his start. Bullpen did not allow a run either. Three of UCLA's runs last night were unearned, the result of a throwing error on the pitcher on what appeared to be a safety squeeze with the score at 2-1, Lions.
UCLA's bats have yet to come alive. The Bruins are only hitting .241 as a team on the season. Hopefully that will change when Irvine comes to JRS this weekend.