After Friday’s 6-2 loss to Georgia, UCLA senior right fielder Chris Giovinazzo said he and his teammates hoped to carry the offensive momentum they gathered in a ninth-inning near comeback into Saturday’s game against St. Mary’s.
Consider it done.
The No. 13 Bruins (8-5) used a six-run first inning, including a grand slam from junior infielder Dean Espy, to jump all over the Gaels (3-8) on their way to a 10-2 victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The win brings the Bruins to 1-1 in the Dodgertown Classic with the pivotal third game of the series coming Sunday at Dodger Stadium against USC.
UCLA’s 15 hits were its second highest hit total of the season. Junior catcher Steve Rodriguez, hitting ninth in the batting order, came up big for the Bruins going three-for-three with two RBI. Giovinazzo and freshman shortstop Pat Valaika each added two hits of their own.
Junior Trevor Bauer, UCLA’s Saturday starting pitcher and last week’s National Player of the Week according to Collegiate Baseball, had another stellar outing against St. Mary’s. Bauer totaled 13 strikeouts in seven and one third innings of work, only surrendering one earned run.
Bauer, now with 203 career striekouts, became the first Bruin to eclipse the 200 strikeout mark since 1997. UCLA junior Gerrit Cole isn’t far behind with 294.
But Bauer wasn’t the only one breaking records Saturday. The win was also a milestone for coach John Savage who became the first coach since Gary Adams, UCLA’s coach from 1975 to 2004, to reach the 200-win mark.
Sunday’s first pitch comes at 2:30 p.m. at Dodger Stadium. UCLA freshman pitcher Adam Plutko (2-0, 0.47) will face USC senior Logan Odom (0-2, 4.91).