UCLA Baseball Stages Comeback to Secure Series Win Over Arizona State

The Bruins were once again powered by their freshmen at the plate and out of the bullpen, but needed help from a veteran reliever to bridge the gap.

Even as a true freshman, shortstop Cody Schrier managed to come through in the clutch.

Down 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth, No. 13 UCLA baseball (28-13, 12-7 Pac-12) loaded the bases with one out. Arizona State (20-23, 9-10 Pac-12) right-hander Will Levine left a 1-0 fastball over the plate and the Bruins’ batting leader made him pay for the center-cut heater.

The ball bulleted off Schrier’s bat and into the right-center gap, clearing the bases to tie the game at five. Moments later, graduate first baseman Jake Palmer followed that up with an RBI double, scoring the speedy freshman to give UCLA a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, eventually winning Saturday’s contest 7-5.

“(Cody Schrier) is really coming on, he’s going to be a special player,” coach John Savage said postgame. “He’s played shortstop since the day he arrived here. He’s offensive, he’s defensive, he can run and he’s got impact with the bat — and you’re seeing that impact…It was a big play in a big moment by a future star.”

In the early stages of the game, neither team could locate the zone, which encouraged heavy run-scoring in the first two innings.

After allowing a leadoff base hit to Schrier, Arizona State starting pitcher Kyle Luckham walked two and hit junior right fielder Michael Curialle with a pitch to bring Schrier across.

On the flip side, freshman lefty Ethan Flanagan gave up a leadoff double to Sun Devils catcher Ryan Campos to begin the second, then walked three of the next five batters. Conceding four free passes in the frame – two of which came with the bases loaded – Arizona State jumped ahead 2-1.

Freshman second baseman Ethan Gourson swiftly knotted the score at two in the bottom half of the second when he hit a bases-loaded sac-fly.

Neither the Sun Devils nor the Bruins could get on the board from the third through the fifth innings, though, a testament to Luckham finding his rhythm and junior reliever Charles Harrison stringing together one of the more productive outings of his three-year collegiate career. The veteran righty did allow a solo home run to infielder Nate Baez in the sixth, but that would be the only earned run he would concede.

Posting a career-high with 4.2 innings pitched, the Canyon Country, California, native struck out two batters while only allowing two hits. After taking over in the second inning — relieving Flanagan with the bases loaded and one out — Harrison retired nine straight Sun Devils to keep things from getting out of control.

Harrison, who relinquished closer duties two games into the season, has recently carved out a more consistent role as a go-to middle reliever by posting a 3.42 ERA in his last 19 appearances.

“He was great today,” Schrier said postgame. “He’s done that before — in the Oregon game. He had to come out on short notice with Thatcher (Hurd) going out (injured). He was pounding the zone and all of his pitches were working well.”

Two errors in the bottom of the sixth prevented UCLA from keeping the game close, as left-handed reliever Daniel Colwell airmailed a throw into the left-field bullpen trying to prevent a steal, allowing Arizona State left fielder Will Rogers – who reached on an error – to score.

Colwell then gave up an RBI single in the same at-bat, pushing Arizona State’s lead to three.

Savage turned to freshman relief pitcher Alonzo Tredwell to finish off the game after the Bruins’ lead-taking, four-run rally in the sixth inning. The righty entered in the seventh with two men aboard and one out, proceeding to retire eight of the nine batters he faced from then until the game-ending fly out. The 2.2-inning save was the freshman’s third of the campaign and first since March 6 against Texas.

“I just love the competitiveness and being able to go in there to shut things down,” Tredwell said postgame. “My guys put us in a spot where we could win a ballgame and win a series today so being the deciding factor is great.”

Gourson tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single in the eighth, which gave the Bruins a multi-run lead for the first and only time in the game.

The Bruins’ seven hits and seven runs were a far cry from their 16 hits and 19 runs on Friday, but they proved to be enough to lock in the Pac-12 series victory on Saturday.

UCLA will return to Jackie Robinson Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. with a chance to complete the sweep against Arizona State.

“Compete every pitch, all nine innings, and I’ll try to set the tone as best I can,” Schrier said when asked about Sunday's game. “Just looking for Kelly (Austin) to go out there, do what he does and hopefully the offense will follow.”

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