As the UCLA baseball team trailed Sunday afternoon, there were few signs that it would shake off its recent hitting woes.
Although the Bruins won Sunday 6-5 to clinch the series against the Gonzaga Bulldogs 2-1, they struggled Friday and Saturday to string hits together as they scored only four runs in the first two games. In a 6-1 loss Saturday, the Bruins were 3-18 with runners on base.
“We hit the ball pretty good this weekend but we just didn’t score runs. We just didn’t come up with the big hit, and that happens,” said coach John Savage. “We were hooking, and swinging over pitches, and losing the barrel.”
It wasn’t until the sixth inning Sunday that UCLA (33-11, 16-5 Pac-12) would change its course and break out from a 5-2 deficit.
After sophomore outfielder Kort Peterson knocked in a run with a pinch-hit sacrifice fly, redshirt junior center fielder Christoph Bono came up with the big hit. His double brought the Bruins within a run, and a balk and an error later UCLA pulled even.
Then in the bottom of the ninth, junior left fielder Ty Moore, who has come up with clutch hits multiple times this season, stepped up with two on and one out. With two strikes, Moore wrapped a line drive down the right field, bringing his teammates streaming out onto the field to celebrate the walk-off win. Moore said that facing senior closer David Berg in practice helped him see the ball better against Gonzaga’s reliever, who throws from a similar low sidearm angle.
“(I was) just looking for a pitch I can handle, see it well, see it up and I had great guys on bases … so I knew even if I didn’t come up with a hit there at least they’re gonna do what they can to move up and score,” Moore said.
Savage said that the win proved his team’s resilience but admitted that Gonzaga (21-23, 10-11 West Coast Conference) could have just as easily won Sunday’s game and the series.
“We were fortunate to win that series, there’s no question about it and I think that anyone who watched it would’ve said the same thing. They outplayed us for about two-and-a-half games,” Savage said.
Not only did Sunday’s win maintain a perfect weekend series record this season, but also gave the Bruins experience in tight games with a series on the line.
As the season goes deeper and playoffs approach, Bono said that the team’s history of coming back in close third games gives the team confidence that could make a difference down the line.
“(Today’s win will) help us moving forward as long as we can stay confident and remember that we’ve done it in the past and we can do it again,” Bono said.
The weekend also featured record setting appearances from UCLA’s pitching staff. Friday night, Berg ended the game with his NCAA record-setting 162nd appearance and senior starting pitcher Grant Watson started the next game with his UCLA record-setting 59th start.