UCLA Baseball Advances to Auburn Regional Final, Tops Florida State With Homers
In a game of key home runs, the Bruins used a late blast to survive at least through the end of the day.
UCLA baseball (40-23, 19-11 Pac-12) scraped by Florida State (34-24, 15-15 ACC) with a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon, getting revenge for Friday night's loss by knocking the Seminoles out of the Auburn Regional. Sophomore center fielder Carson Yates handed the Bruins the win in the elimination game with a go-ahead solo shot in the ninth, and UCLA is now set to face No. 14 seed Auburn in game one of the Regional Final on Sunday night.
It marks the fourth postseason in a row that UCLA has made the Regional Finals.
All three runs scored by the two teams came off solo home runs, with the Bruins getting theirs from Yates and sophomore third baseman Kyle Karros. Neither side could get it going in many other situations, with the two sides combining to go 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
Before the power helped decide the game, though, it was all about the arms.
The do-or-die showdown started out as a pitchers' duel, with redshirt sophomore right-hander Kelly Austin going head-to-head with lefty Jonah Scolaro.
The Seminoles' starter wasn't much of a starter at all before Sunday, only making two starts in his 119 career appearances. It seemed like Scolaro would be used as a traditional opener against the Bruins, especially after he allowed a walk and a hit in each of the first two innings and was sitting at 41 pitches.
Scolaro escaped both frames unscathed, though, and he bounced back to retire 10 in a row – eight by way of the K in that stretch alone. The fifth-year veteran nearly had an immaculate inning in the top of the fourth, coming just one ball away from striking out the side in 10 pitches.
Austin also allowed singles in each of the first three innings, but the runners were stranded each and every time. The Orange Coast College transfer ran into a bit of trouble in the fourth after two separate reviews ruled Florida State second baseman Brett Roberts safe at first and third, and he nearly walked the bases loaded with two down. Austin worked himself out of a 3-0 hole to pick up a clutch strikeout on a high fastball, though, leaving both he and Scolaro at 60 pitches through four.
The Bruins finally got a hold of Scolaro again in the fifth via a single from junior catcher Darius Perry, only to wind up stranding him at first as the lefty picked up another strikeout to end the inning.
Austin came right back in the bottom of the fifth, continuing to attack the zone with his curveball and slider that had been giving Florida State batters – and his own catcher – fits all day. Also mixing in a fastball that topped out at just over 90 miles per hour, Austin forced a pair of groundouts before inducing a fly ball to the warning track that made it a 1-2-3 inning.
The pair of starters were chased out not long after, and it didn't take a lot of damage for their respective coaches to give them the hook.
Austin gave up a no-doubt bomb to left to right fielder Jaime Ferrer that put the Seminoles up 1-0, and even though he retired two in a row to make it through the rest of the inning, both fly balls made it all the way to the warning track.
Scolaro fell into the same trap in the seventh, allowing a leadoff solo homer to Karros. After giving up a single to sophomore designated hitter Daylen Reyes, Scolaro exited the game in favor of left-hander Wyatt Crowell.
Crowell walked the first batter he faced, and the Bruins nearly loaded the bases before graduate left fielder Kenny Oyama's apparent infield single was turned into an out after a review. The one-out, bases-loaded scenario turned into second and third with two outs, and UCLA grounded out to end the inning without pulling ahead.
Austin was replaced by junior left-hander Jake Saum to start the bottom half of the seventh, marking an end to his day as well. Austin needed 90 pitches to toss 6.0 innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts, while Scolaro allowed one earned run in 6.1 innings, racking up nine strikeouts and 91 pitches.
The Bruins had another chance to take the lead in the eighth, as singles by Karros and junior right fielder Michael Curialle gave them runners on the corners. The Seminoles brought in their second reliever, and Reyes to line out to center to mark the second inning in a row with multiple runners stranded.
Saum and Jewett combined to pitch a scoreless seventh, then freshman right-hander Alonzo Tredwell entered the game to start the eighth. It wasn't a save situation, but the young closer was still tasked with keeping his team alive in a high-leverage situation.
Tredwell retired the side in the eighth, and he came back on the mound in the ninth with a lead thanks for Yates' home run. The advantage wasn't as large as it could have been – with Oyama getting thrown out at third trying to advance an extra base on freshman shortstop Cody Schrier's single – so Tredwell didn't have much wiggle room to close things out.
As it turned out, the one-run lead was all Tredwell needed, but just barely.
The closer allowed a leadoff single to left, followed by a deep shot to center that was a few feet away from being a walk-off home run. Florida State suddenly had a man on second and only needed one hit to tie things up, but Tredwell struck out the final two batters of the game and left the mound with a powerful fist pump.
First pitch between UCLA and Auburn is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Bruins would get knocked out with a loss, while a win would send them to a winner-takes-all second game on Monday.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF UCLA ATHLETICS