UCLA Baseball Destroys Utah, 20-0; Looks for Series Win Today

Zach Pettway earned his first win of the season and Kevin Kendall just missed hitting for the cycle.

Kevin Kendall hit two home runs, a triple and a single while driving in seven runs and scoring twice. (Photo Credit: Don Liebig/uclabruins.com)

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Apparently, John Savage needs to do a better job recruiting. Last night, he really could have used a field goal kicker because his Bruins missed an extra point last night when they drubbed the Utah Utes, 20-0.

This afternoon, UCLA will look to pickup where they left off last night when they face the Utes again. First pitch for today’s game is set for 2 pm PT. Today’s game will be livestreamed.

Last Time Out

Zach Pettway had his best outing of the season last night as he threw seven shutout innings en route to his first win of the season. He struck out eleven, walked no one and only allowed five hits. Jake Brooks pitched the final two innings to combine with Pettway on the shutout.

While Pettway’s first win is certainly noteworthy, especially considering how much he’s struggled so far this season, the real story of the game was the UCLA offense.

That’s because, after dropping 12 runs on the LMU Lions on Tuesday, the Bruins scored even more last night.

UCLA got on the scoreboard with a second-inning rally. Josh Hahn led of the inning with an infield single and Noah Cardenas was hit by a pitch to give the Bruins two on. Michael Curialle laid down a bunt towards first to move Hahn and Cardenas up. Then, Tuesday’s hero Kyle Karros hit an RBI single which scored Hahn, but Cardenas got thrown out at third on the play for the second out of the inning. Kevin Kendall took the first pitch he saw and drilled it over the wall in center, giving the Bruins a 3-0.

While that would turn out to be all they needed, UCLA tacked 17 insurance runs over the next four innings. They added four in the third, highlighted by a bases loaded triple by Kendall which made it 7-0.

The biggest offensive explosion came in the fourth when the Bruins doubled their lead on four homers. Matt McLain and JT Schwartz hit back-to-back solo shots to start the inning. With two runners on and only one out, Now up by two touchdowns, UCLA still wasn’t done.

The Bruins added four more in the fifth. The first two runs scored on two different wild pitches and they would go on to add two more as well. Meanwhile, Kevin Kendall hit a single, giving him a pair of homers, a triple and a single for the day. Unfortunately, Savage opt to clear his bench and sent in JonJon Vaughns to replace Kendall. So, he fell just a double short of hitting for the cycle.

After five, UCLA had an 18-0 lead and they added another pair of runs in the sixth to make it 20-0. In the sixth, Karros stranded Mo Berg on third and they left two runners on in the eighth, falling just short of making this a three touchdown victory.

Of course, the added benefit of having your starter pitch seven innings like Pettway did is that the bullpen basically got the day off. Though, Sean Mullen (6-1, 2.68 ERA), today’s starter for UCLA, has been pitching so well of late that he was promoted to the Sunday starter last week and he is being promoted to start on a Saturday. He will face lefty Kyle Robeniol (1-3, 6.67 ERA) who will be on the hill for Utah.

#25 UCLA Baseball (19-11, 7-6)

Opponent: Utah Utes (8-19, 4-9)
Game Time: 2:00 pm PT, Saturday, April 17, 2021
Where: Jackie Robinson Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Live TV: None
Live Audio: uclabruins.com with Tim Wilhelm
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast

Probable Pitchers:
UCLA - Sean Mullen, RHP, Jr. (6-1, 2.68 ERA)
UTAH - Kyle Robeniol, LHP, Gr. (1-3, 6.67 ERA)

Weekend Notes:

UCLA

This is your UCLA baseball vs. Utah Utes game two open thread.


Go Bruins!

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