UCLA Baseball Closes the Season on the Road Against Arizona State

The Bruins salvaged Sunday's game against UC Berkeley, 7-4, after dropping the first two.

Jake Moberg drove in three run with a two-run homer and RBI double to help lead the Bruins to Sunday’s win over UC Berkeley. (Photo Credit: Don Liebig/uclabruins.com)

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After losing last weekend’s series to UC Berkeley, the UCLA baseball team wraps up the regular season this weekend on the road against the Arizona State Sun Devils. Since it’s the final series of the season, it begins tonight rather than tomorrow. First pitch tonight is set for 6 pm PT and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2, meaning UCLA will dominate ESPN tonight with softball on ESPN and baseball on the Deuce.

Last Time Out

The Bruins salvaged the final game of the series against UC Berkeley last weekend by beating the Bears, 7-4. Starter Jesse Bergin gave up just two runs on six hits and a pair of walks over five innings before turning the game over to the bullpen with a 5-2 lead.

Bergin got himself into a bit of trouble in the first. With one out, he gave up two hits and a walk to load the bases. While he got the next batter to hit a grounder to second, the Bruins took the sure out at first and gave up the run.

In the bottom half of the inning, UCLA got that run back. Kevin Kendall led off with a double and Michael Curialle bunted him over to third. Kyle Cuellar brought him home with an RBI single up the middle to tie the game.

Jon Jon Vaughns drew a one-out walk in the second which set the stage for a Jake Moberg homer to right center which put the Bruins ahead for good, 3-1.

Both teams added a breadstick in the fourth. UC Berkeley did it on a one-out homer by Steven Zobac while Vaughns and Moberg did their best to re-create the second inning. Vaughns drew a one-out walk and Moberg followed with an RBI double this time.

The Bruins added three insurance runs in the sixth on a two-run triple by Curialle and an RBI single by Cuellar, giving UCLA a 7-2 lead.

In the eighth, Bruin closer Max Rajcic took over for Adrian Chaidez, who had pitched two scoreless innings of relief. While Rajcic gave up a pair of runs in the inning, this game was never really in doubt and he finished it up by throwing a scoreless ninth to seal the 7-4 UCLA win.

UCLA Baseball (32-18, 15-12)

Opponent: Arizona State Sun Devils (32-17, 16-11)
Where: Phoenix Municipal Stadium, Phoenix, AZ

Media:

Live TV: ESPN2 (Thu) & Pac-12 Networks (Fri/Sat)
Audio: uclabruins.com with Tim Wilhelm

Thursday

Game Time: 6:00 pm PT, Thursday, May 27, 2021
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Live Stream: WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app

Probable Pitchers:
UCLA - Zach Pettway, RHP, Sr. (1-5, 5.12 ERA)
ASU - Tyler Thornton, RHP, RSo. (2-3, 5.27 ERA)

Friday

Game Time: 6:00 pm PT, Friday, May 28, 2021
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app

Probable Pitchers:
UCLA - Sean Mullen, RHP, Jr. (9-1, 2.86 ERA)
ASU - Justin Fall, LHP, RJr. (7-2, 3.78 ERA)

Saturday

Game Time: 1:00 pm PT, Saturday, May 29, 2021
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app

Probable Pitchers:
UCLA - Jesse Bergin, RHP, Jr. (4-3, 4.76 ERA)
ASU - TBD

Weekend Notes:

UCLA
Arizona State

This is your UCLA baseball vs. UC Berkeley game one open thread.


Go Bruins!