UCLA had two more important cogs get bitten by the injury bug, but could the Bruins still pull out a series win with a victory at Arizona? Long Beach State also had a rubber match, but the biggest rubber match took place at Caesar Uyesaka stadium beween Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara.
That plus more in a roundup of Sunday’s Southern California college baseball action along with photo galleries:
#26 UC Santa Barbara 2, #15 Cal State Fullerton 1
Making his first start of the season, Kenny Chapman allowed only one run in five innings before turning the ball over to the Gaucho bullpen duo of Greg Mahle and Dillon Tate. The Gauchos (22-8, 4-5) scored two runs in the fourth inning on a Cameron Newell sacrifice fly and a Billy Fredrick infield single and made it hold for the 2-1 win.
Cal State Fullerton’s ineptitude with runners in scoring position definitely helped. The Titans (18-13, 3-3) stranded seven runners in scoring position. Matt Chapman reached three times, driving in Fullerton’s only run with an RBI single in the fifth inning. But the other big bat in the middle of the order, J.D. Davis was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Freshman Taylor Bryant did knock his first two collegiate hits.
Check out photographer Shotgun Spratling’s top photos from the contest:
[scrollGallery id=270]
Saturday: UC Santa Barbara 3, Cal State Fullerton 2 — With the winning run on second base and an open base, Fullerton elected to pitch to the nation’s leading hitter to start the weekend, Joey Epperson. The All-American candidate lined a fastball back up the middle for a 3-2 walk-off win for the Gauchos.
USC 13, Utah 2
The Trojans (17-17, 6-9) pounded out 19 hits and 13 runs to bounce back from a 13th inning loss on Friday and swipe the series from Utah (11-21, 2-12). Brent Wheatley allowed an UER in 5.1 IP to get the win in his first weekend start of his career. USC shortstops Blake Lacey and Reggie Southall combined for a run, four hits and six RBI.
Saturday: USC 3, Utah 2 — Reggie Southall delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly to give USC a measure of redemption after the Trojans lost 3-2 in 13 innings on Friday. Dante Flores drove in USC’s first two runs.
Arizona 6, #22 UCLA 5
UCLA (19-15, 7-5) took a pair of bad losses at Arizona, but may have also taken an even worse pair of losses. Veteran centerfielder Brian Carroll left the game with an apparent shoulder injury after crashing into Ty Moore, going after a flyball in left field. All-American closer David Berg also left the game with a biceps injury. After firing 2.2 scoreless innings in a 5-5 game, Berg started to warm-up in the ninth inning and couldn’t continue.
Against Jake Ehret, Arizona (17-20, 6-9) SS Kevin Newman knocked a walk-off RBI single up the middle to give the Wildcats the series victory. Newman finished 3-for-4 with two RBI. Zach Gibbons was 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs and two RBI.
Saturday: Arizona 3, UCLA 2 — Cody Hamlin needed 111 pitches for a complete game victory over the Bruins. Grant Watson gave up three runs in the third inning on a Riley Moore (3-3, R, 2B, 2 RBI) two-run double and a Zach Gibbons RBI single.
UC Irvine 10, Cal State Northridge 2
Connor Spencer was a perfect 4-for-4 and fell a home run shy of hitting for the cycle as the Anteaters (24-11, 8-1) took care of the Matadors (13-22, 2-7) to secure the series sweep. Evan Brock improved to 6-2, allowing two runs in seven innings. With the win, Irvine remains tied for the conference lead. Michael Livingston was 2-for-3 with a triple and a run for Northridge.
Check out CBD photographer David Cohen’s top photos from the game :
[scrollGallery id=268]
Saturday: UC Irvine 5, Cal State Northridge 4 — Mikey Duarte did a little bit of everything with the bat. He squeezed home a run, moved a runner on a hit-and-run out of the zone and dropped in a single that scored another run.
Irvine needed every run as CSUN scored three runs in the eighth inning before ‘Eaters closer Sam Moore could quell the rally and earn his nation-leading 15th save.
You can also see David Cohen’s photos from the Saturday matchup:
[scrollGallery id=266]
Nevada 11, San Diego State 4
Nevada (19-14, 11-7) jumped right back in the thick of the Mountain West race, sweeping away visiting San Diego State (25-11, 10-8) in convincing fashion. The Wolfpack hit Mark Seyler hard (4.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER) to down the Aztecs 11-4.
Don’t blame Ty France though. He went off. France was a perfect 4-for-4 with three doubles and three runs scored. Danny Sheehan also had two hits and two RBI. Nevada’s Brad Gerig reached three times and knocked his first homer as a Wolfpack player.
Saturday: Nevada 8, San Diego State 0 — Greg Allen had three hits. The rest of the Aztecs had two as Michael Fain and Mark Nowaczewski combined for the shutout.
Loyola Marymount 7, St. Mary’s 5
Austin Miller hit a bases loaded sacrifice fly to put Loyola Marymount (22-14, 11-4) ahead in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Lions added an insurance run before turning the ball over to Bret Dahlson, who nailed down his seventh save. Jimmy Jack was 2-for-4 with two RBI and started the eighth inning rally. Catcher Nate Nolan reached three times and hit a home run for the Gaels (13-21, 5-7).
Saturday: Loyola Marymount 11, St. Mary’s 1 — Tanner Donnels (3-4, 2 R, 2 2B, 3 RBI), David Edwards (2-4, R, 3 RBI) and Ted Boeke (3-3, 2 R, 3B, 2 RBI) each had big days to lead LMU to an easy win behind Patrick McGrath (6 IP, ER).
San Diego 13, Portland 2
A day after taking a bad loss, San Diego (25-10, 11-4) bounced back to take the series at Portland (8-29, 2-13). The Toreros pounded out 14 hits. Grant Melker, Kyle Holder, Jesse Jenner & Louie Lechich each drove in two runs while Connor Joe had two doubles and four RBI. Lechich was tremendous on the mound, going eight innings and allowing one earned run on four hits.
Saturday: Portland 10, San Diego 9 — Trailing 9-8 and down to their final out, the Pilots got back-to-back singles, an error and a walk-off single to take the win. Connor Joe had a double and a homer.
#12 Oregon 6, UC Riverside 5
Francisco Tellez knocked a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning, but it was too little, too late for the Highlanders. UC Riverside (14-17) took a road series sweep.
Tyler Baumgartner had two hits and homered for Oregon (27-10). Mitchell Tolman and Kyle Garlick each had two hits and combined for three runs and three RBI. Tellez finished with 3 RBI for the Highlandes while Drake Zarate had two hits and two RBI.
Saturday: Oregon 7, UC Riverside 4 — Dylan Stuart’s strong relief efforts (5 IP, 4 H, ER, 5 K) weren’t enough to keep Jeff Gold from improving to 8-0 on the season for the Ducks.
UC Davis 8, Long Beach State 4
Good news. Bad news. Long Beach State (16-18, 3-3) got southpaw Nick Sabo back in the weekend rotation after he missed the last two weeks with an arm injury. His performance was the bad news. Sabo was hit around by UC Davis for five earned runs in 2.1 innings.
The Aggies (16-16, 3-6) used a seven-run third inning to bust the game open and take the rubber match. Tanner Bily knocked a three-run homer in the inning and finished 2-for-2 while Nick Lynch had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in two runs.
Saturday: Long Beach State 2, UC Davis 0 — Josh Frye and two relievers combined for a two-hit shutout while the offense scored two runs without getting a hit.
#6 Cal Poly 8, Hawai’i 3
Casey Bloomquist picked up his eighth win of the season as Cal Poly (30-5, 8-1) scored three runs in the third inning and put up another three-spot in the eighth inning to solidify an 8-3 victory. The Mustangs leave Hawaii with a sweep of the ‘Bows (14-19, 2-7).
Nick Torres had three hits and drove in two runs. Brian Mundell hit a two-run homer in the third inning — his first homer since hitting one in each game against UCLA in the second series of the season. Peter Van Gansen added two hits and two RBI for Cal Poly.
Marc Flores hit a solo homer in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 4-3 for Hawai’i. The Rainbow Warriors loaded the bases following Flores’ blast, but Bloomquist was able to get out of the jam.
Saturday: Cal Poly 4, Hawai’i 3 — Reed Reilly came on a day after pitching three innings to get the final out and strand the potential tying and go-ahead runs on the corners.
