Playing on a field marred by puddles and mud, the UCLA baseball
team lost to Utah 7-4 on Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The
final two games of the series were to be played on Saturday and
Sunday, but the downpour and inadequate field conditions led to the
cancellation of the games. Friday’s game, which went into
extra innings, ended in the 11th inning when the Utes’ bats
came alive against Bruin relievers Adam Simon and Daniel
Miltenberger. Behind four hits and aided by two errors by the
Bruins, the Utes (1-6) scored three runs in what proved to be the
final inning. After Simon allowed the winning run to reach base,
Miltenberger was brought in and gave up a sacrifice fly to Ryan
Khoury that put the Utes up for good. Utah’s Tyler Kmetco and
Trevor Eastman added a pair of RBI base hits later in the inning to
give the Utes a 7-4 lead. The Bruins (6-4) held a 4-3 lead in the
top of the ninth inning behind a strong pitching performance by
Hector Ambriz. The Bruin ace went 8 1/3 innings, giving up four
runs, of which only two were earned. He recorded eight strikeouts,
but still allowed 10 hits. After allowing a single in the top of
the ninth, he was taken out of the game for Simon. With runners on
first and third and two outs, third basemen Eric Taylor, who went
on offense 3-for-5 with an RBI, committed a throwing error that
allowed the Utes to tie up the game. The Bruins put two runners
aboard in their half of the 11th, but Jarrad Page flew out to deep
center field with two outs to end the game. The game was ugly from
start to finish, partly because of the poor condition of the field,
and partly because the Bruins and Utes combined for seven total
errors. The final two games of the series will not be made up. The
Bruins have already had three games canceled due to rain. The first
game of the Cal State Northridge series, supposed to have been
played on Feb. 11, will be made up on March 8 at Northridge.
PLAY BALL: Tonight, the Bruins will head to UC Riverside (5-6)
and take on the Highlanders for the second time this season. Last
Tuesday, the Bruins pummeled UC Riverside in a 17-0 drubbing.
Miltenberger, who boasts a 1-0 record an 2.16 ERA, will get to
start in the game.