The scoreboard at Jackie Robinson Stadium showed the Bruins scoring three runs in the bottom of the fourth on Sunday; not because they did, but because the scoreboard only has room for one digit.
Blowing open what was an already offensive rubber game against Winthrop (1-2), No. 13 UCLA (2-1) scored 13 runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 16-1 lead. They would cruise to a 19-5 victory, with relief pitcher Brendan Lafferty (1-0) getting the win, and take the weekend series 2-1 to open the season.
“It was crazy,” Friday night starter Tyson Brummett said. “I’ve never seen it before. It kept going and going. We just put a bunch of (at bats) together, and people were hitting the ball.”
Catcher and vocal leader Ryan Babineau fulfilled that role all weekend for the UCLA baseball team and had a stellar day at the plate Sunday, going 3-5 with two doubles and three RBIs.
“It feels good,” Babineau said. “Last year I started off 6-50, so it’s a nice feeling.”
True freshman Gabe Cohen was the first Bruin to go long this season, hitting a grand slam Sunday for his first career home run, which also helped to put the game out of reach early.
Friday night was the polar opposite of Sunday, with UCLA’s Brummett and Winthrop’s Alex Wilson taking part in a close pitcher’s duel.
Brummett proved to have more in the tank, lasting eight innings and throwing seven consecutive shutout innings after allowing a run in the first en route to the win.
“Brummett really established himself,” coach John Savage said. “He came back (for his senior year) for one reason. He came back to be our Friday night guy. And to match up against Wilson and pitch like that
… (it) was fun to watch because he was as good as I’ve ever seen him.”
The game was knotted at 1-1 until the bottom of the eighth when a costly Winthrop error tilted the contest in UCLA’s favor.
With a runner on second base and two outs, Babineau hit a pop-up to second base that bounced off Phil Carey’s glove, allowing the pinch hitter Will Penniall to score.
Closer Brant Rustich came on in the ninth to get his first save of the young season.
Winthrop bounced right back Saturday to even the series at 1-1. After the Bruins went up 2-0, a six-run third inning for Winthrop gave the Bruins a deficit from which they could not recover.
UCLA battled back to 6-4, but in the end starter Paul Schmidt (0-1) was tagged with the loss, and Winthrop’s Ryan Schwartz (0-1) notched his first win.
The loss on Saturday fired up UCLA to come out strong Sunday.
“Last year we were 1-1 almost every single series,” Babineau said. “We came out and won on Friday, lost a heartbreaker (Saturday), and to come out and take it to them today shows a lot about our team, and the character we have.”
The Bruins continue their season with a road trip to face the No. 3 Miami Hurricanes for a three-game weekend series.