UCLA Baseball Looks for Seventh Straight on the Road Against Cal Poly
The Bruins got a strong effort from Sean Mullen en route to a 6-2 win over the Titans on Tuesday.
This weekend, the Bruins will be up the California coast for a three-game series against the Cal Poly Mustangs. First pitch for Friday and Saturday will both be at 6 pm PT while Sunday’s game will start at 1 pm PT. The Bruins won their sixth straight on Tuesday when the Westwood Nine topped Cal State Fullerton by a score of 6-2. It was also the fifth game in a row where UCLA scored at least six runs.
Tonight, Zach Pettway (0-0, 9.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season for the Bruins while freshman right hander Drew Thorpe will take to the hill for the Mustangs.
Last Time Out
UCLA got another solid performance from Sean Mullen on Tuesday as the junior righthander threw five innings of shutout ball while striking out ten and scattering just two hits and three walks.
The Bruins got on the scoreboard first in the top of the third. Following a pair of two-out walks to Jack Filby and Matt McLain, JT Schwartz hit an RBI single which scored Filby to give the Bruins the lead.
The fourth inning was a small ball kind of inning for UCLA. Jarron Silva led off with a walk and Noah Cardenas singled up the middle. Kyle Karros moved both runners up on a sacrifice bunt which led to Mikey Perez hitting an RBI single that made it 2-0, Bruins. Kevin Kendall walked to load the bases for Filby, who walked for the second time in as many innings. The walk to Filby scored Cardenas and it was 3-0. UCLA managed to score one more time when McLain hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Perez from third.
The Titans finally got on the board with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth after Jake Brooks took over for Mullen.
The game would remain quiet until the top of the ninth. Perez led off with a walk while Kendall doubled to give UCLA runners on second and third with no outs. Filby hit an RBI single to right which scored Perez and left the Bruins with runners on the corners. After McLain struck out, Schwartz scored Kendall on a sacrifice fly to center to give UCLA a 6-2 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Kyle Mora came in to close it out. After allowing the first two Titans to reach on a walk and a single, he shut the door by getting two guys to pop out and striking out the final batter.
Mullen earned his third win of the year while Samuel Gomez took the loss for Cal State Fullerton.
Cal Poly Mustangs
Tonight, the Bruins continue their four-game roadtrip as they begin a weekend series in San Luis Obispo against Cal Poly.
The Mustangs have won three in a row after losing four of their first seven including three in a row to Nevada and their final game against Southern Cal. The thing which stands out about Cal Poly is that two of their three starters have an ERA under 2.00.
That would seem to indicate that the Mustang bullpen isn’t very good, but the reality is that there is just one reliever who has struggled and that’s Bryan Woo. Woo has given up 12 earned runs in 5-1/3 innings pitched. The rest of the pen has been much better with no one giving up more than 4 earned runs.
So, it could be a tough series for the Bruins. Hopefully, they can find a way to keep hitting like they have been. I think they’ll drop one, probably tonight before winning tomorrow and Sunday.
#6 UCLA Baseball (9-3)
Opponent: Cal Poly Mustangs (6-4)
Where: Baggett Stadium, San Luis Obispo, CA
Media:
Live TV/Audio: uclabruins.com with Tim Wilhelm
Live Stream: BigWest.org
Friday
Game Time: 6:00 pm PT, Friday, March 12, 2021
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Projected Pitching Matchup:
UCLA - Zach Pettway, RHP, Sr. (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
CP - Drew Thorpe, RHP, Fr. (2-0, 1.93 ERA)
Saturday
Game Time: 6:00 pm PT, Saturday, March 13, 2021
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Projected Pitching Matchup:
UCLA - Jesse Bergin, RHP, Jr. (2-1, 1.72 ERA)
CP - Travis Weston, LHP, So. (1-1, 1.96 ERA)
Sunday
Game Time: 1:00 pm PT, Sunday, March 14, 2021
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Projected Pitching Matchup:
UCLA - Nick Nastrini, RHP, Jr. (2-0, 1.53 ERA)
CP - Andrew Alvarez, LHP, Jr. (2-0, 2.77 ERA)
Weekend Notes:
This is your UCLA baseball at Cal Poly Mustangs game one open thread.
Go Bruins!
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Ball game. Cal Poly takes it 5-4. UCLA couldn’t execute in critical moments on the mound (Karros in B6), in the field (McLain error scores game winner unearned), and at the plate (the other Karros cannot execute a sacrifice bunt with no outs in the T9). Winnable game gets away.
Lead off walk to Perez but Karros can’t execute the sacrifice. Sigh. One out.