UCLA and Oregon State boast of two of the best offenses in the Pac-12, but on Thursday night, it was their two starting pitchers who were the storylines.
Bruin junior James Kaprielian came into the game leading the conference in strikeouts, and of those 55 strikeouts, 38 percent of them were caught looking.
On the other side, junior Andrew Moore, possessing a 1.87 ERA, toed the rubber for the Beavers.
And if the 3-2 final score is any indication, this victory by Oregon State (22-7, 5-2 Pac-12) in the opening game of the series was a quintessential pitcher’s duel.
Kaprielian started off the game in complete control, striking out four of the first five batters he faced, three of them looking. He had eight strikeouts through the first five innings and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning.
Moore had a perfect game going until the fifth inning, when UCLA broke into the hit column on a bloop single to left field by sophomore right fielder Kort Peterson. A double by junior Darrell Miller Jr. was misplayed by the Oregon State right fielder for an error allowing Peterson to score and give UCLA a 1-0 lead.
But it was in the sixth inning that Kaprielian started to unravel. He gave up a double with one out, but struck out the next batter, setting himself up to get out of the jam.
However, when junior designated hitter Gabe Clark hit a foul popup down the left field line, senior third baseman Chris Keck and redshirt junior shortstop Kevin Kramer failed to make the play on a catchable ball that could have easily been ruled an error.
With the third out not recorded, Clark was able to continue his at bat and single to left field to tie up the game at one apiece. Kaprielian would face two more batters, giving up a single and a walk, before giving way to junior reliever Cody Poteet. In a full count with the bases loaded, the UCLA junior missed very high with his fastball, walking in the go-ahead run.
Moore, on the other hand, continued to mow down the Bruin hitters, as he struckout eight in 7.2 innings.
The Beavers would tack on an insurance run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly, which became very important in the bottom half of the inning, when UCLA added its second run of the game. But the Bruins could not complete the comeback.
The Bruins did not muster a lot of offense, as they only had three hits after the fifth inning, leading to their eight-game winning streak being snapped.
The series continues Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Jackie Robinson Stadium.