With one swing of the bat, everything that had been going wrong for UCLA baseball started to go right.
The No. 1-seeded Bruins (45-15) were in a rut offensively at the start of this weekend’s NCAA Regional. UCLA scored seven runs in the first game of the regional against Cal State Bakersfield, but used five bunts to get there. Then, in a loss to Maryland (41-22) on Saturday, UCLA’s offense went cold, producing only one run on five hits.
The cold offense carried through to Sunday afternoon, when UCLA played Cal State Bakersfield in an elimination game with the season on the line for both teams. The Bruins only had one run on three hits heading into the seventh inning.
“It was 1-0 a couple hours ago against Bakersfield, and it could’ve really gone either way,” said coach John Savage.
But in that seventh inning, junior left fielder Ty Moore brought UCLA’s bats – and the rest of the team – to life.
The Bruins had already scored a run in the inning to push the lead to 2-0, but Moore had a chance to blow the inning open.
He did.
With two runners on, Moore sent a ball into orbit. He looked up, and when he saw the ball land atop the Jack and Rhodine Gifford Hitting Facility behind the right-field fence for a three-run home run, he pumped his fists and unleashed a yell as he rounded first base.
Celebratory yells like that were seldom seen from UCLA in the Maryland game on Saturday night, but would become a common occurrence over the final six hours on Sunday – when UCLA was playing for its season.
“(The) offense was able to come alive in that first game,” said senior closer David Berg. “They did a great job of staying with at bats, Ty had that huge three-run home run.”
After Moore’s homer, UCLA’s offense would get eight hits in its next 14 at bats before eventually earning a 9-1 win over Bakersfield. The Bruins then carried that momentum into the elimination game against Maryland just over an hour later on the same field.
Facing the Terps once again, the Bruins jumped out of the gate with three singles in the first inning to build a 1-0 lead.
UCLA’s offense then went eight for 21 over the next five innings, before Moore came back to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the Bruins clinging to a 3-2 lead.
Moore slammed a one-out double into left-center field, clapping his hands and raising his arms toward the UCLA dugout after he arrived at second base. Moore had already played over 15 innings on the day, but he was not at a loss for energy. A few pitches after his cheers at second base, he took off sprinting in an attempt to steal third base, without any steal signs from his third-base coach.
Moore not only stole third base, he was also able to charge home after the Maryland catcher’s throw skipped into left field.
What did he do when he arrived at home? He looked straight to the dugout and screamed, trying to sustain the spark of momentum he created hours earlier with his three-run home run.
“I probably had to tone it down a little bit sometimes,” Moore said with a laugh. “Adrenaline’s definitely flowing. This is an exciting time of the year.”
That momentum and adrenaline lasted all the way until the clock approached midnight on the West Coast.
But thanks to the flick of Moore’s bat, the clock didn’t strike midnight on the Bruins’ season. Not yet, at least.
UCLA went on to defeat Maryland 4-2 at 11:35 p.m., forcing a deciding final game between the two teams of the regional on Monday at 8 p.m. The winner advances to the NCAA Super Regional next weekend.
“This is where every team wants to be, and we’re lucky enough to be in this position,” Moore said. “So you’ve just gotta enjoy it. It’s baseball, it’s a fun game.”