There the Bruins found themselves again, in extra innings on the road.
Three days after winning a 17-inning marathon match over then-No. 9 Arizona State in Phoenix, No. 2 UCLA baseball (37-12) was locked in another tight match against Cal State Fullerton (28-22) on Tuesday night. The game entered the 10th inning tied 4-4.
“You don’t want to play extra innings, but if you’re gonna go into them, you might as well win them,” said coach John Savage.
The Bruins did just that, defeating the Titans 5-4 in 10 innings to improve the team’s record to 4-1 in extra-inning contests this year.
“It’s definitely an advantage knowing you’ve been there before, you’ve had success in that situation,” said sophomore outfielder Brett Stephens.
Stephens showed his composure by starting off the 10th inning with a single through the right side. But if not for a play he made back in the seventh inning, UCLA may not have even gotten to the 10th.
With two outs in the seventh, Stephens came to the plate with runners on second and third base, the game tied at 2-2. The sophomore hit a high fly ball to deep left – a rarity on a night when the Bruins hit 16 ground balls and only three fly balls.
“I thought it was gonna be caught off the bat,” Stephens said.
But the CSU Fullerton left fielder, who hadn’t been tested since the first inning, misplayed the deep fly ball, allowing it to soar over his outstretched glove. Two runs were scored to put UCLA ahead 4-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
“The wind was not a major factor, but there were some misplays that were huge plays,” Savage said.
The Bruins had a defensive misplay of their own in the bottom of the seventh, which allowed CSU Fullerton to tie the game back up. With two outs in the inning, redshirt junior shortstop Kevin Kramer made an error on an infield grounder, allowing two runs for the Titans.
By the time the 10th inning came around, Kramer came up to the plate after Stephens led off with his single. The shortstop redeemed himself by executing a near-perfect bunt on the infield. The bunt was so well-placed that it resulted in a base hit for Kramer.
That set the table for UCLA’s leading run producer, junior left fielder Ty Moore.
Instead of swinging for the fences, Moore laid down a successful sacrifice bunt to advance Stephens and Kramer to third and second base respectively. Moore’s decision to lay down a bunt proved crucial just moments later.
With the runners moved up to second and third base, CSU Fullerton had to shift its infield in to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring on a ground ball. But that shift turned out to benefit the Bruins.
When senior third baseman Chris Keck hit a blooper toward shallow center field, no CSU Fullerton player was able to get there.
“I was sitting on a curveball on that pitch, and I didn’t take a great swing on it,” Keck said. “But luckily, the defense was playing in a position that didn’t help them to make the play, so I got kind of lucky with the base hit.”
Whether it was lucky or good, it was another win for the Bruins in extra innings.