UCLA Baseball Blows Out Southeastern Louisiana to Stay Alive in NCAA Regional

The Bruins scored runs early and often to knock out the Lions and advance to another elimination game against Auburn or Florida State on Sunday.

On the brink of elimination, the Bruins channeled their Pac-12 tournament resilience and high-powered offense to advance to Sunday.

UCLA baseball (39-23, 19-11 Pac-12) embraced their run-scoring spirit from the previous weekend in Scottsdale and piled it on against Southeastern Louisiana (30-31, 14-10 Southland) in Auburn on Saturday, defeating and eliminating the Lions by a score of 16-2. Sophomore center fielder Carson Yates – who hit a home run the day prior in the loss to Florida State – launched a two-run blast in the sixth to put the Bruins up by double digits, one of his three hits against the Lions during the contest.

Freshman shortstop Cody Schrier and freshman second baseman Ethan Gourson tallied three hits as well, with the latter crushing a solo home run – his first since April 29 and his fourth of the season – in the eighth inning.

Unlike Friday, when UCLA fell behind Florida State in the first, the Bruins built their lead from the first at-bat.

Schrier started the contest with a leadoff double off the top of the left-field wall, and he eventually came home on a double from his infield partner, Gourson.

Later in the inning, Gourson and junior right fielder Michael Curialle – who reached on a fielder’s choice – scored following a throwing error from the Lions’ starting pitcher Andrew Landry. The 3-0 lead would be all the blue and gold needed to come out victorious, but they continued to add on throughout the affair.

In the third, after sophomore designated hitter Daylen Reyes earned an RBI on a sac-fly, then Schrier and junior catcher Darius Perry tallied run-scoring singles to eventually double the lead to six.

Perry went 4-for-4 during the contest before being replaced defensively by redshirt sophomore catcher Tommy Beres in the bottom of the seventh.

The Bruins scored another nine runs the rest of the way. Graduate first baseman Jake Palmer and Curialle had RBI singles, with the former scoring two runs on his base hit. Yates and Gourson hit their aforementioned home runs, while the Bruins' pitching staff continued their efficient performance on the mound.

By crawling all the way up to 16 runs, UCLA had more than five times the offensive production it did in the opener of the Auburn Regional. The same pattern was on display at the Pac-12 tournament, when the Bruins scored just one run in their first appearance before averaging 13.8 per game the rest of the way.

UCLA’s large lead Saturday contributed to freshman left-hander Ethan Flanagan’s ability to settle down and keep runs off the board from the get go.

In his first NCAA tournament start, the Bruins’ opener hurled 4.0 innings, striking out four, walking three, allowing two hits and one unearned run. The lefty reached a high of 93 miles per hour on his fastball, while mixing in his secondaries throughout the contest.

Flanagan was relieved in favor of junior lefty Jake Saum in the fifth, who was able to get UCLA out of a bases loaded jam to hold the Lions at one run.

Freshman righties Luke Jewett and senior left-hander Daniel Colwell also appeared out of the bullpen, tossing scoreless frames en route to victory. The pitching staff combined to only give up three hits while striking out seven batters. Freshman right-hander Nate Leibold appeared in the ninth, not allowing a hit, but did give up an earned run on a sacrifice fly thanks to a preceding walk and hit-by-pitch.

Freshman closer Alonzo Tredwell, junior righty Charles Harrison and redshirt sophomore Kelly Austin all did not pitch, keeping them fresh for Sunday’s impending action. Despite pitching on Friday, Austin could very well be UCLA’s starting pitcher to begin Sunday’s do-or-die contest, considering he only tossed 10 pitches in relief against Florida State.

The Bruins will return to action at 11 a.m. on Sunday for another elimination game against the loser of the upcoming winner’s bracket showdown between Auburn and Florida State. If they were to win that game, UCLA would then have to win two Regional Final games to advance to the Super Regionals.

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PHOTO COURTESY OF GRACE SCHINSING/AUBURN ATHLETICS