UCLA senior second baseman Alden Carrithers had never faced UC Santa Barbara, the school where he played his first two years of college baseball, before Wednesday night.
The game will certainly be one he never forgets.
Almost six hours after the game started, Carrithers singled in the winning run in a 13-inning marathon to give the Bruins a 5-4 victory over his former team.
Neither the Bruins or Gauchos could muster any offense after the Bruins tied the game at four in the sixth inning. The two teams went scoreless until UCLA managed a late rally in the bottom of the 13th.
It all started when Gaucho pitcher Zach Samuels ““ the ninth pitcher to appear for UCSB of the night”“ walked UCLA’s Brady Dolan with one out. Then Bruin leadoff hitter Jermaine Curtis was hit by a Samuels pitch, moving Dolan into scoring position.
Carrithers took one pitch, a ball, before smacking the next into center field. Dolan scored on the play and the Bruins won the game.
Along with Carrithers, the Bruins can thank starting outfielder Justin Uribe. The sophomore made just the fourth pitching appearance of his career in the top of the 13th, striking out two Gauchos and getting a pop-up to end the inning and keep the game deadlocked at four. Uribe was the sixth pitcher UCLA used in the win.
With the win the No. 3-ranked Bruins improved to 2-1 on the season. The Gauchos suffered their first loss and slipped to 3-1.
UCLA came off an excellent offensive display against Cal State Northridge. The Bruins posted 22 runs on Tuesday before the sunset, which caused a postponement in the middle of the eighth inning. Like UCLA, the Gauchos came offensively hot into the game. UCSB tallied a total of 30 runs in their three games over the weekend versus Marist.
Freshman left-handed pitcher Rob Rasmussen, who starred in his four years at Pasadena Poly, got the start for the Bruins. Making his collegiate debut, Rasmussen hurled two and two-third innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three. Rasmussen appeared hampered by a foot injury after a line drive struck him in the left foot with one out in the third inning.
After hitting and walking two of the next three batters, coach John Savage decided to bring in red-shirt junior left-handed pitcher Brendan Lafferty. The southpaw inherited a bases-loaded situation with two outs and struck out the next batter to escape the threat. Lafferty went three innings, giving up a pair of runs on four hits and four strikeouts.
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the third inning, designated hitter Cody Decker, who was 2 for 3, drew a bases-loaded walk to cut the Gaucho lead in half.
The Gauchos increased their lead in the fourth inning, adding two runs on three hits off of Lafferty. In their half of the inning, the Bruins answered with a run-scoring double off the bat of sophomore first baseman Casey Haerther to trim the deficit to 4-2.
Decker’s single in the following inning brought Carrithers across the plate to inch the Bruins a run closer. Carrithers got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom half of the following inning to tie the game at four.
BUSY WEEKEND: The Bruins will play three games this weekend, Friday against Southern, Saturday against Bethune Cookman and Sunday against rival USC.