(Photo Courtesy Don Liebig/UCLA Athletics)
UCLA Baseball Loses 4th Straight Midweek Contest, Falls to UC Irvine on Road
The Bruins could not silence the Anteaters’ bats or keep up with their production, causing the blue and gold to drop their fourth straight nonconference contest.
No. 23 UCLA baseball (33-19, 17-10 Pac-12) continued to drag in midweek action, getting swiftly defeated by UC Irvine (29-21, 13-11 Big West) by a score of 8-1 on Tuesday night. Nine Bruin pitchers took the mound during the contest – with none of them facing more than eight batters – and seven of them allowed at least one run to an Anteaters squad that wound up closing out a two-game season sweep in the process.
Senior Daniel Colwell, freshman James Hepp, redshirt freshman Chris Aldrich, sophomore Caedon Kottinger, junior Charles Harrison, freshman Nate Leibold, junior Josh Hahn, freshman Luke Jewett and senior Jack Filby all toed the bump at some point during the affair.
Kottinger – who made his Division I debut on Tuesday night – was the only UCLA reliever to pitch a full scoreless inning against UC Irvine, not giving up a hit or a walk in his lone frame of work. Every other Bruin arm who earned three outs allowed at least one run.
The bullpen game comes after sophomore Max Rajcic, freshman Ethan Flanagan and redshirt sophomore Kelly Austin combined to allow one earned run in 17 innings as coach John Savage’s starters in a sweep over Washington State. Sophomore Jake Brooks, freshman Thatcher Hurd and freshman Gage Jump remained injured, though, leaving the Bruins without a true Tuesday starter for the time being.
UC Irvine jumped ahead quickly in the first, jumping on Colwell for two runs. Afterwards, the Anteaters continued to add on – a run was charged to Hepp in the third, while another was charged to Aldrich in the fourth.
Harrison was tagged for one run in the sixth, and Leibold and Hahn each gave up a run in the seventh. Filby was the final pitcher called on Tuesday, and he threw a wild pitch in the eighth that caused the eighth and final run to cross home plate.
Back-to-back base hits by sophomore second baseman Daylen Reyes and junior right fielder Michael Curialle helped UCLA add a single run in the fourth, as sophomore third baseman Kyle Karros grounded out to bring Reyes home. Despite getting on the board and eating into the deficit, the Bruins could not add on in any other inning in the ballgame.
Graduate first baseman Jake Palmer made his return to Cicerone Field, his home stadium during his four years with UC Irvine.
The homecoming was productive for Palmer, who was one of two Bruins to go 2-for-4 on Tuesday. Palmer increased his team-leading batting average to .328 and continued his tear at the plate, extending his hitting streak to eight.
Freshman shortstop Cody Schrier, meanwhile, was missing from the lineup on Tuesday. The Bruins’ home run leader had played in the previous 51 games, even ascending to the leadoff spot as of late, but his unavailability led to a shuffled lineup for Savage.
The top-four batters went 6-of-15 in Schrier’s absence, but the next five spots combined to go 1-for-18.
UCLA will wrap up its Pac-12 slate starting Thursday, hitting the road for a regular season-ending series against No. 2 Oregon State in Corvallis. A sweep could vault the Bruins into first place and secure them the regular season conference title, but they are now 9-9 in away games in 2022.
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