UCLA Baseball: Bruins Top Titans, 6-1; Wrap Up Classic Today Against Southern Cal

Jesse Bergin threw six shutout innings as the Bruin bats kept going in yesterday's win over Cal State Fullerton.

Jesse Bergin gave UCLA another quality start yesterday against Cal State Fullerton. (Photo Credit: Jesus Ramirez/uclabruins.com)

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The Bruins continued their offensive tear yesterday when UCLA beat Cal State Fullerton, 6-1, finishing a heck of a week that saw them score 40 runs in just four games. Today, UCLA will look to keep it going when the Bruins host crosstown rival Southern Cal at Jackie Robinson in the final game of the Southern California College Baseball Classic. First pitch is at 1 pm PT and, unlike past years which saw this game broadcast on Pac-12 Los Angeles, today’s game will only be live streamed.

Last Time Out

UCLA raised their batting average another three points to .249 with a 6-1 win over the Cal State Fullerton Titans. While the improved hitting is the UCLA baseball story of the week, the story of yesterday’s game is really the dominance of Jesse Bergin on the mound. Bergin threw six scoreless innings and struck out eight while allowing just two hits and a walk before giving way to the bullpen for the final three frames.

The Bruins got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third. Jack Filby got the rally started with a lead-off walk. Matt McLain moved Filby to second on a hit through the left side of the infield while Josh Hahn’s RBI single up the middle drove him in and advanced McLain to third. Michael Curialle’s sacrifice fly to right scored McLain and UCLA had a 2-0 lead.

The fourth inning saw the Bruins hit back-to-back homers to lead the inning off. First, Mikey Perez went to left and, then, Kevin Kendall hit one over the right field fence.

In the sixth, Kevin Kendall manufactured an insurance run for UCLA on a single, stolen base, ground out and sacrifice fly.

Michael Townsend relieved for Bergin in the top of the seventh and he gave up a double and a pair of one-out singles to close the UCLA lead to 5-1.

UCLA got that run back in the bottom half of the inning to go up, 6-1, after Curialle doubled and later scored. Meanwhile, the Bruins got an inning of scoreless relief from both Kyle Mora and Jake Brooks to wrap this one up.

Southern Cal Trojans

After starting the season with a pair of wins against Loyola Marymount, Southern Cal has lost five of their last six. The Trojans’ problems seemed to be mixed. On one hand, their pitching staff is allowing too many runs. Four of their five losses have come when their opponents have scored more than five runs. On the other hand, two of the five losses have been by just a run. So, they don’t seem to be scoring enough runs either.

Outlook

With “Nasty Nick” Nastrini on the hill today for the Bruins and Sean Mullen available in the pen, I don’t think Southern Cal is going to solve their offensive woes today. When you pair that with the way UCLA has scored over the past week, the Trojans might want to pray for some rain to wash the game out.

I’ve got the Bruins winning this one, 7-1.

#9 UCLA Baseball (7-3)

Opponent: Southern Cal Trojans (3-5)
Game Time: 1:00 pm PT, Sunday, March 7, 2021
Where: Jackie Robinson Stadium, Los Angeles, CA

Projected Pitching Matchup:
UCLA - Nick Nastrini, RHP, Jr. (1-0, 2.19 ERA)
USC - Alex Cornwell, LHP, RSo. (1-0, 4.66 ERA)

Media:
Live TV: None
Live Stream: Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app
Audio: uclabruins.com with Tim Wilhelm
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast

Game Notes
UCLA

This is your UCLA vs. Southern Cal open thread.


Go Bruins!

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