No Joy in Westwood as Bruins Drop Season Opener
The #2 UCLA Bruins lost the first game of the 2021 baseball season last night to USF, 6-2
Well, there won’t be an undefeated season in Westwood this year. That’s because the UCLA baseball team dropped their season opener to San Francisco last night, 6-2. This afternoon, the teams meet again at JRS at 2 pm.
Last Time Out
The game and the season started out right for the Bruins. Jared Karros threw three scoreless innings and UCLA scored a run in the bottom of the third to go up 1-0. Michael Curialle hit a two-out single then advanced to second on a wild pitch before scoring on a single by Matt McLain.
But, it soon fell apart.
Karros gave up an RBI triple to Harris Williams which scored Luke Keaschall to tie the game and then Williams scored on a wild pitch from Karros.
In the fourth inning, Karros gave up a lead-off homer to Jordan Vujovich.
The Bruins got one back in the bottom of the sixth. Kyle Cuellar led off and was hit by a pitch. Noah Cardenas followed and doubled to left putting Cuellar on third. Jarron Silva singled to cut USF’s lead to one, 3-2, but with the bases loaded and no outs, the Bruins couldn’t get the tying run across. In fact, UCLA couldn’t muster up much offense for the rest of the game and, even though they would load the bases again in the eighth, they still couldn’t score.
The bullpen didn’t pitch up to 2020 form either as Michael Townsend, Daniel Colwell, and Kyle Mora each gave up insurance runs to the Dons.
Today’s Game
The Bruins and Dons will square off again this afternoon at 2 pm PT. Jesse Bergin, who finished 2020 with a 4-0 record and a 1.27 ERA will look to get the Bruins their first win of the season while sophomore Eric Reyzelman will take to the hill for the Dons.
The key to today’s game will be whether or not the Bruins can get their bats going and score some more runs today.
#2 UCLA Baseball (0-1)
Opponent: University of San Francisco Dons (1-0)
Game Time: 2:00 pm PT, Saturday, February 20, 2021
Where: Jackie Robinson Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Pitching Matchup:
UCLA - Jesse Bergin, RHP, Jr. (2020: 4-0, 1.27 ERA)
USF - Eric Reyzelman, RHP, So. (2020: 2-1, 4.70 ERA)
Media:
Live TV/Audio: uclabruins.com with Tim Wilhelm
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Game Notes
UCLA
This is your UCLA v. San Francisco game two open thread.
Go Bruins!
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The Bruins bounce back with a convincing 8-2 victory. Jesse Bergin was masterful, giving up just one hit and no runs in 6 and 1/3 innings. The bullpen was a bit shaky though, following up on a shaky Friday night performance, but UCLA was already up 7-0 by then. Rubber match is this afternoon at 1 p.m.