Delayed Start Costs UCLA Baseball, Bruins Fall to Cal in Pac-12 Tournament Opener
In the first-ever Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, the Bruins and Golden Bears were slated to play the night cap on the opening day of action.
First pitch was supposed to be around 8:30 p.m. – notable because neither team had started a game past 7:05 p.m. in the regular season – but the penultimate game ran late.
Really, really late.
It was true Pac-12 After Dark, this time on the diamond instead of the gridiron.
The eventual 10:15 p.m. start did not do No. 3 seed UCLA baseball (35-21, 19-12 Pac-12) any favors, as they dropped their first postseason game 4-1 to No. 6 seed California (29-25, 14-16) well after Wednesday night turned to Thursday morning at Scottsdale Stadium. The Bruins will get another shot to stay alive in the double-elimination bracket and steal the conference crown, but they will need to avoid the pitfalls they ran into early in the first round.
UCLA for instance, actually put 14 men on base compared to Cal's 12, getting a runner aboard in each of the first eight frames. All but one of those Bruins was stranded, though, while the Golden Bears added extra-base hits and timely hitting to take the lead.
Cal right fielder Dylan Beavers came into the tournament with 16 home runs on the year, good for third-most in the Pac-12. After flying out to center versus junior left-hander Josh Hahn in his first at-bat, Beavers got a little more air under it the second time around, sending another deep shot to straightaway center off junior right-hander Charles Harrison in the third.
Sophomore center fielder Carson Yates had trouble tracking it down, and the ball careened off the wall 430 feet away from the plate. Yates ran into the wall and had to completely change directions to scoop it off the ground and send it back into the infield.
Beavers, despite not getting enough lift to send the ball over the fence, rounded third and slid into the plate safely for his 17th homer of the year, this time on an inside-the-parker.
Center fielder Rodney Green Jr. stepped up and added another solo home run for the Bears in the fourth inning, with this one actually leaving the field of play. It was one of four hits freshman right-hander Luke Jewett allowed in the top of the fourth after replacing Harrison, but the Bruins still only trailed 2-0 thanks to a caught stealing and outfield assist by Michael Curialle.
Jewett allowed another three hits, plus an RBI single, in the fifth before getting pulled in favor of junior left-hander Jake Saum, who hadn't pitched since April 19. While Saum immediately forced a fly out to left, the man on third tagged up and scored to make it 4-0.
Saum finally sat Cal down in order in the sixth and seventh, getting back to the efficient work Hahn strung together with his 1-2-3 the first inning. Senior left-hander Daniel Colwell struck out three in the eighth and ninth without allowing another run, but the damage had already been done and the Bruins' offense hardly made a dent in the deficit.
UCLA got a man aboard in each of the first seven innings – even loading them up in the second and fourth – but could not convert any opportunity into runs. On top of his mishap in center that led to Beavers' inside-the-park home run, Yates stranded six men on base after striking out in both of those bases loaded scenarios.
Yates finally got on base with a deep one-out double in the seventh, but he was the one left stranded when Curialle flew out to left to end the inning.
While coach John Savage had to utilize a bullpen game due to several injured starters, the Bears turned to their Opening Day starter, Josh White. However, the junior right-hander lost his weekend spot by the end of the season, boasting a 1.10 ERA through his first three starts before closing the year with a 7.31 ERA in his final 12 outings.
White didn't exactly shut down the Bruins at the plate, but he completely worked around the 12 men he put on board across his 7.0 resurgent, scoreless frames.
Two singles by sophomore third baseman Kyle Karros and sophomore designated hitter Daylen Reyes led to a sac fly by junior catcher Darius Perry that finally get UCLA on the board once White left the mound. The late offensive push was stopped right there, though, as the final five Bruins to step into the batter's box were retired in order.
UCLA has less than 12 hours before its next outing, an elimination game in the loser's bracket against No. 7 seed Washington. The Huskies swept the Bruins in Seattle at the beginning of May and had won 12 in a row to close the regular season.
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