Women’s golf senior swings her first-ever collegiate win in Phoenix tournament

It was a special weekend for one Bruin.

Senior Beth Wu finished tied for first at the PING/ASU Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona, earning the first win of her collegiate career. No. 5 UCLA women’s golf shot 13-over 877 to finish eighth out of the 14 teams at the event.

“It was a relief, since it’s taken me until senior year for me to win my first tournament,” Wu said. “It was a waiting game because I finished before everyone else did, so it was mentally exhausting.”

The Bruins were in ninth place after shooting 8-over in the first round. Junior Clare Legaspi and sophomore Patty Tavatanakit each shot 1-over to pace the team on Friday, while Wu was tied for 42nd after shooting 3-over.

Wu improved her score by nine strokes in the second round and tied her career-best with a bogey-free 6-under 66 on Saturday – climbing to a tie for sixth place. UCLA shot 7-over to move into a tie for eighth.

In the final round, Wu shot 4-under, tying her for the best round of the day. She shared the victory with Northwestern’s Stephanie Lau and Stanford’s Andrea Lee, the top-ranked golfer in the country.

“When I finished, I was one shot back, but (Lau) came in and bogeyed her last hole,” Wu said. “We waited another five groups for (Lee), who had a good chance at birdie but barely missed.”

Coach Carrie Forsyth said the victory was a culmination of Wu’s journey in transitioning to collegiate golf.

“Coming in, I think it was a big adjustment for her, so she’s gone through a couple of different swing instructors during her time here,” Forsyth said. “This year, she’s had some great moments but (wasn’t) able to put it together for whole tournaments. Just to see her keep it together and have a great finish was awesome.”

Tavatanakit finished tied for 10th following a 4-under final round, earning her fourth top-10 finish of the season.

Prior to the tournament, Forsyth and Tavatanakit went to a nearby PING factory, where they discovered that Tavatanakit’s irons were not set properly because of improper lie angles. Tavatanakit said her ball-striking improved immediately after her clubs were adjusted.

“Fixing my clubs corrected my big, ambiguous misses,” Tavatanakit said. “I hit some good shots, and my irons were straight this weekend. Distancewise, I was off the first few days, but (Sunday), everything was perfect.”

No other Bruin cracked the top 50.

Legaspi and sophomore Vera Markevich finished tied for 52nd and tied for 62nd, respectively. Freshman Phoebe Yue finished last out of the 86-player field, shooting 32-over.

Junior Mariel Galdiano did not play in the tournament, as she was invited to compete in the LPGA Kia Classic in Carlsbad, California. Galdiano finished tied for 103rd after missing the cut by three strokes.

UCLA defeats Denver

The Bruins won a dual match against Denver 288-300 on Tuesday at the Superstition Mountain Golf Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona.

UCLA shot even-par on the day, while Denver shot 12-over.

The match was originally slated to be a three-way dual match between UCLA, Oregon and Denver, but Oregon dropped out just days before the event.

Wu and Tavatanakit each posted 5-under 67s to lead the Bruins to a dual-match victory.

The Bruins will travel to Napa, California, next week to compete in their final tournament of the regular season, the Silverado Showdown, beginning April 7.

Track and field invitational sees UCLA athletes win big, achieve personal bests

The Bruins had the opportunity to perform in front of their home crowd for the first time this season.

UCLA track and field hosted the Bob Larsen Distance Carnival and Jim Bush Legends Invitational at Drake Stadium on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Bruins placed first in a season-best 16 events and recorded first-and-second-place finishes six times.

“It’s always fun seeing blue cross the line first,” said junior distance runner Robert Brandt.

Brandt saw blue cross the finish line first, second and third in two track events – including his own.

Brandt – the only UCLA athlete to qualify for NCAA championships in two track events – was the leader of a trio of Bruins consisting of redshirt sophomore Garrett Reynolds and redshirt junior Colin Burke in the 10,000-meter, with a first-place time of 28:55.27. Brandt climbed to fifth on the UCLA all-time outdoor list in the event and Reynolds’ mark placed him ninth all-time.

“I think a goal of mine is to eventually break the UCLA (10,000-meter outdoor) record,” Brandt said. “Obviously, it’s going to be very hard with (Meb Keflezighi) holding that spot right now.”

Keflezighi was a four-time NCAA champion under former coach Bob Larsen and an Olympian competing in the 10,000-meter and marathon, and holds a 39-second advantage over Brandt.

Brandt said the team toed the starting line with the goal of notching qualifying marks for NCAA West Regionals in May, but the long-term goal is for the group to qualify for nationals together.

Brandt, Reynolds and Burke exchanged leads in the remaining five kilometers after the race’s pacer veered off the track.

“I was talking to (Reynolds and Burke) before,” Brandt said. “We’ll hopefully have a pacer halfway – which we did. … It was really fun to get in there and work together. It was a good display of teamwork.”

Freshman Sophie Scott, sophomore Paige Carter and freshman Kira Loren had a 1-2-3 sweep of their own in the 1500-meter earlier on Friday. Carter and Loren finished roughly a second behind Scott’s first-place time of 4:35.40.

After an injury-ridden outdoor season last year, redshirt junior Arturo Sotomayor took first place in the one mile and 800-meter races with times of 4:03.17 and 1:51.68, respectively.

“For (Sotomayor) to come out and win two races is huge,” Brandt said. “I think (Sotomayor) wants more timewise, but from where he was last year to where he is now is a huge (change).”

Despite a couple underwhelming warm-up jumps, sophomore pole vaulter Tate Curran registered a first-place jump of 5.15 meters in front of his family, who had the opportunity to watch him compete in a Bruin uniform for the first time.

“Warm-ups weren’t actually that great,” Curran said. “Then I kind of figured it out at my opening height (of 4.75 meters), and (senior Michael Fancey) started making bars pretty easily. I was like ‘Man, I can’t let him beat me.’”

Curran and Fancey were the only pole vaulters to attempt the 5.15-meter bar, but Fancey failed on all three tries and settled with a personal-record 5.05-meter jump for second place.

Redshirt senior thrower Dotun Ogundeji led the UCLA shot put quartet with a toss of 19.68 meters, while redshirt sophomore Nate Esparza, freshman Otito Ogbonnia and redshirt freshman Jacob Wilson finished second, third and fourth, respectively.

Sophomore thrower Alyssa Wilson repeated her success from a week ago at the Aztec Invitational with another triad of victories in the shot put, weight throw and hammer throw.

Wilson’s 67.67-meter toss in the hammer throw was roughly 1 1/2 feet shorter than her performance last week, but she also posted a season-best mark in the shot put with a toss of 16.83 meters.

“I wasn’t happy with (my performances), but I wasn’t upset (either),” Wilson said. “I think the energy wasn’t there.”

The Bruins will compete at Drake Stadium again Saturday, when they host the Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational.

Bruin baseball comes back from early defeat to take series win over Trojans

After suffering their biggest loss of the year, the Bruins responded with two of their largest wins.

No. 1 UCLA baseball (20-5, 7-2 Pac-12) lost to crosstown rival USC (10-16, 3-6) 7-2 Friday night – its largest margin of defeat this season. The Bruins bounced back with 7-1 and 9-2 wins Saturday and Sunday, respectively, to clinch the series.

“Losing the first game of the series, we had to come back with a little edge,” said redshirt sophomore designated hitter Jarron Silva. “We felt like we didn’t play our game Friday night.”

The Bruins never held a lead in game one, with the Trojans tacking on runs in every odd inning. Sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway lasted seven innings but allowed seven runs on 10 hits and three walks.

UCLA trailed 5-0 when they scored their first run off a sixth-inning RBI single to the right side by junior first baseman Michael Toglia. The Bruins’ second and final run came in the ninth when freshman infielder Jack Filby hit an RBI single up the middle.

“We got handled on Friday,” said coach John Savage. “They were very aggressive against (Pettway) and we just couldn’t get anything going against (Connor) Lunn.”

Lunn allowed two runs and seven hits over 8 2/3 innings of work while punching out eight Bruins.

UCLA evened the series on Saturday with a 7-1 victory off the back of redshirt junior right-hander Jack Ralston.

Ralston was pitching a shutout until designated hitter Jamal O’Guinn hit a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the ninth. The homer prompted Savage to pull Ralston, who improved his record to 4-0 and ended his day with one earned run, six hits allowed and four strikeouts in a career-high 8 2/3 innings.

The redshirt junior said Saturday’s pitching performance was among his all-time best.

“It’s probably top three, for sure,” Ralston said. “Being able to execute pitches, throwing up fastballs, good locations, down angles and mixing in my off-speeds (was working well for me).”

The Bruins struck early in game two, as they scored all seven of their runs by the fourth inning. Senior designated hitter Jake Pries ignited the offense with a three-run home run in the first inning that plated juniors second baseman Chase Strumpf and shortstop Ryan Kreidler.

Another three runs came across in the third, starting with an RBI single by junior left fielder Jack Stronach and followed by a two-RBI double by Toglia. Strumpf hit a sac fly to center in the fourth to give the Bruins a 7-0 lead.

The Trojans were the first to get on the board in the rubber match Sunday, taking a 1-0 lead in the first off junior right-hander Ryan Garcia. The Bruins, however, responded in the next frame.

Silva – making his fourth start of the year – belted a two-run home run to right field to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead. Silva said he was lucky to get one of the two pitches he was looking for during his at-bat.

“My approach with a runner on third was to hit the fastball away (and) react to any off-speed up,” Silva said. “Luckily that put me on the change-up up.”

Silva finished the afternoon with a team-high four RBIs to go along with two hits and one run.

USC tied the game at two apiece in the second when designated hitter Brady Shockey scored off a throwing error by Toglia. The game included a total of 14 walks and seven errors.

“I thought the game was sloppy on both sides,” Savage said. “First three innings we walked five guys and made a couple errors. The good thing is they only got two runs.”

A sac fly to center by Kreidler brought home junior catcher Will McInerny in the third to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead. Sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell scored later in the inning on a wild pitch, and sophomore shortstop Kevin Kendall crossed home in the following inning on a passed ball.

Toglia extended the UCLA lead to 6-2 in the fifth with a solo home run that sailed over the scoreboard in right field at Dedeaux Field. The Bruins added three insurance runs in the ninth off Silva’s two-RBI double down the right field line and a wild pitch that plated Toglia.

“We have a lot of guys that can swing the bat (and) a lot of those guys haven’t played,” Savage said. “It’s good to see (Silva) have a big day for us.”

Garcia earned his second win of year as he lasted five innings with three strikeouts and allowed two runs, three hits and five walks.

The Bruins will play CSUN for the second time this year in a Tuesday home game at 6 p.m.

Men’s volleyball breaks losing streak, outleaping Antelopes 3-1

The Bruins snapped their losing streak and broke a record in their return home.

No. 5 UCLA men’s volleyball (17-7, 7-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) defeated Grand Canyon (12-14, 2-8 MPSF) 3-1 at the John Wooden Center on Sunday.

The Bruins entered the match on a three-game losing streak, all three losses coming against conference opponents.

UCLA was ahead throughout the entire first set, with the largest difference between the two teams being nine points. The Bruins claimed the set 25-18 after they hit for .517, posted 17 kills and logged a side-out percentage of 73.7 percent.

Junior middle blocker Daenan Gyimah said testing a new lineup created more chances for mistakes.

“The first set, everything was swinging our way,” Gyimah said. “We were playing with (a) completely different lineup with (senior setter) Micah (Ma’a) on the outside, and this was my first time starting on the right side instead of the middle. There were bound to be some errors and those came up in the second set.”

The Antelopes were held to a .150 hitting percentage and totaled only four kills across the first set with outside hitter Christian Janke – their team leader in kills – tallying just one.

UCLA opened up the second set behind 7-2 before coach John Speraw took his first timeout of the match. The Antelopes never lost the lead and claimed the set 25-19 as the Bruins hit for .122 and recorded 12 kills.

Speraw said he is still testing a number of lineups with two games left in the regular season.

“(We’re) just trying to figure what’s the best lineup,” Speraw said. “I don’t have an answer until you throw it out there and play ball. We’re missing so many points because we’re not connecting because we have a new lineup – it’s nobody’s fault.”

The Bruins hit for .346 in the third set and held the Antelopes to .148 hitting percentage en route to a 25-23 set win. UCLA closed the match with a 25-22 set win in the fourth set, logging nine kills and hitting for .429.

Ma’a entered the match three service aces away from breaking the all-time UCLA career record. At 11-11 in the third set, a serve from Ma’a hit the top of the net and dropped onto the Antelope side to take his career total to 195, giving him full possession of the record.

“It’s extremely humbling as so many amazing players have come through here,” Ma’a said. “Individual records are great but I’d love to win a championship – I’d trade that for a record any day.”

Ma’a already owns the UCLA single-season service ace record after besting this season his own record of 58, recorded in 2016. He finished the match with a team-high 17 kills and a .342 hitting percentage, along with six service aces.

“(Ma’a) has been carrying us in so many ways all season long,” Speraw said. “The intangibles of leadership and his energy are completely invaluable to this program, maybe more than the influence of one individual greater than anyone I’ve ever seen. For us to be in this position after having a shaky year is a credit to him.”

UCLA next will face Concordia University Irvine on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion.

Softball delivers weekend sweep of California despite two narrow victories

The Bruins had to fight for the series.

No. 1 UCLA softball (32-1, 6-0 Pac-12) swept California (20-15, 2-7) this weekend, with two of the victories coming by just a one-run margin.

“We already know what we look like when we’re on top of it, so you got to see a different layer, a different team today, a team that’s going to continue to figure out how to throw punches even though things don’t always go their way,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez.

The Bruins struggled to convert hits into runs in Friday’s game, collecting seven hits and eight walks but leaving 12 runners on base. UCLA trailed California going into the bottom of the seventh inning, but scored on a bases-loaded error to tie the score at 2-2 and send the game into extras.

But junior outfielder Bubba Nickles broke the stalemate just one inning later, in the bottom of the eighth, with an RBI single to score freshman utility Kelli Godin from second for the 3-2 win.

“We had a lot of hits, but we couldn’t put them together,” said redshirt sophomore utility Aaliyah Jordan. “So I think we just need a couple of us coming up and having a couple of clutch hits like this.”

Redshirt junior Rachel Garcia was in the circle for the Bruins on Friday and took the win, pitching all eight innings while giving up on one earned run on six hits and a walk. With the win, Garcia’s ERA has gone down to 0.54 – the best in the nation.

Saturday’s game was a pitcher’s duel, as both teams recorded just five hits each. The only run of the game came in the third inning, as sophomore utility Kinsley Washington singled, stole second, advanced to third on an out, then scored on an error to take the 1-0 lead.

The UCLA offense finally broke through on Sunday with a 6-0 victory, capped by a sixth-inning home run to center field from Jordan to drive in three runs. The other three runs came in the first and second innings by way of two RBI singles and a steal of home by junior outfielder Jacqui Prober.

“Yesterday we said, ‘All we need is to win by two and we’ll be happy’, so today we were able to put up a bunch of runs,” Washington said.

Despite the higher run production, UCLA still left 12 runners on, and finished the series with 29 total runners left on base.

“We’ve just got to go back and sharpen up,” Inouye-Perez said. “It’s a wake-up call to be able to figure out what we need to do in those situations.”

Freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo would finish the weekend with 11 2/3 innings of shutout pitching, collecting the win Saturday and Sunday. She gave up three hits and no walks after coming into the game in relief on Saturday, and pitched a one-hit complete game shutout on Sunday.

UCLA will go back on the road for more Pac-12 play next weekend with a trip to No. 17 Arizona State.

“We’ve got to show up every day, and we’ve got to be able to earn it,” Inouye-Perez said. “The only ranking that matters is the ranking at the end of the year; we want to be the last ones standing.”

New methods could make plants more resilient to climate changes, disease

UCLA researchers developed new methods to manipulate gene expression in plants, which could help make them resistant to climate change and plant-harming bacteria.

In a study published February, researchers in molecular, cell and developmental biology professor Steve Jacobsen’s lab designed proteins that can silence specific genes.

The researchers study DNA methylation, a process that can silence parts of DNA, Jacobsen said in an email statement. They were able to design proteins that can manipulate DNA methylation, allowing the researchers to choose which physical characteristics a plant expresses without genetically modifying the plant.

The researchers also found the silenced genes can be inherited by future generations.

Ashot Papikian, a graduate student in Jacobsen’s lab, said these developments can help make agricultural production more efficient, which Papikian said is important to meet the increasing demand for food.

Additionally, the new methods are expected to have many benefits beyond improving food production.

Javier Gallego-Bartolome, a postdoctoral researcher in Jacobsen’s lab, said the new methods can help improve plants’ resistance to bacteria.

Bacteria residing in plants must exploit certain genetic traits in the plants to survive, Gallego-Bartolome said. He said by suppressing these genes, a plant will become more resistant to plant-harming bacteria.

He added that this will decrease dependence on chemical treatments of plants to reduce bacteria, which can have negative effects on the ecosystem.

Linda Yen, a graduate student in Jacobsen’s lab, said their research can help farmers adapt to climate change, which has led to yearly environmental changes that have hurt farmers’ crops.

She said with these new techniques, researchers will be able to design plants that can thrive in new, changing environments.

“Whatever you need, whatever is best for your land, we can make that for you,” Yen said. “Whatever it is that the environment throws at it, the plant is still able to hold its own.”

The researchers also use gene sequencing to identify certain parts of the DNA sequence that affect parts of the plants.

This will help the researchers identify which parts of the genome to target when altering gene expression.

The researchers hope to integrate CRISPR-Cas9 technology, which Gallego-Bartolome said is more accurate in targeting DNA. CRISPR is a DNA sequence that is used in the modification of genetic code.

The researchers said they hope to further refine these tools and combine them in the future to strengthen their abilities to regulate gene expression.

“This has so many benefits,” Gallego-Bartolome said. “I hope at some point it gets to the stage where it is used as a biotechnology tool to grow crops.”

UCLA Transportation partners with Long Beach Transit to create new bus line

Students and staff will now be able to take a new direct bus line between Long Beach and UCLA.

The UCLA/Westwood Commuter Express will offer a direct connection from Long Beach to Westwood starting Monday. The new line has two stops in Long Beach and three stops in Westwood. The year-long pilot program was created through a partnership between UCLA Transportation and Long Beach Transit.

Michael Gold, the public information officer for LBT, said the idea for the partnership started two years ago when LBT launched its Systemwide Transit Analysis and Reassessment Initiative. Over 18 months, LBT held community meetings at which the public could comment on what services they needed.

“At one of the meetings, I had three people come up to me. They asked if we were contemplating a shuttle up to the west side,” Gold said. “We took this input and said, ‘Yeah, that is something that we’d consider long-term.'”

Gold said UCLA Transportation then reached out to LBT about a partnership.

“In summer (or) fall of last year, someone from UCLA contacted us and said that they had heard about this process and asked us if we were interested in exploring the idea of a commuter shuttle,” Gold said.

Interested riders can buy passes online or at the UCLA Central Ticketing Office. While UCLA offers discounted monthly passes for students and staff, anyone can utilize the direct line. UCLA employee passes cost $96 and student passes cost $80. Single fares cost $4 one way and $7 round trip, and can be purchased on the bus using cash or through LBT’s transit app.

According to UCLA’s 2017 State of the Commute report, over 60,000 employees and students commute to UCLA on a regular basis.

Several students expressed interest in the new service but emphasized commuters still face issues with scheduling their days and participating in on-campus activities.

Daniel Rivera, a fourth-year history student, used to commute from Long Beach and said it was impractical to use public transportation to get to UCLA from Long Beach at the time.

“One time I did take the Blue Line into downtown, then the Expo Line, and that commute probably took about two and half hours,” Rivera said. “It was possible, but it wasn’t feasible.”

While Rivera said he was excited about improved mass transit options, he thinks the limited bus schedule will restrict commuting transfer students’ ability to participate in social and extracurricular activities on campus.

“If they had later options that would give transfer students the opportunity to have a real college experience, I would be more inclined to use it,” Rivera said. “It was a real struggle to have any opportunity to take advantage of any of the extracurricular stuff.”

Rivera now pays for a student commuter parking pass, which costs $249 per quarter.

Rushna Raza, a fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student, commutes for three hours from the San Fernando Valley to UCLA by bus. She said she experienced the pros and cons of commuting when she moved off campus.

“This year a lot of my time is bus dependent. I have to plan my day around that,” Raza said. “Overall I’ve made it work.”

Raza, who is a student staffer at the UCLA Transfer Student Center, said that while commuter students face more social restrictions, the commuter community is working to establish itself on campus.

“Most of our population of transfers are commuters,” Raza said. “We’re trying to make a more commuter-receptive culture by having a commuter breakfast early in the morning.”

Gold said LBT does not know how many people will use this service since it is still in its pilot phase, but they are prepared to roll out as many buses as needed.

“We’re just excited to see how it all comes together and hope it’s a great service for people who live here and work or go to school up in Westwood,” Gold said.

Rivera said he believes that UCLA needs to do more to address commuter concerns, but added he is excited about the new line.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Rivera said. “I wish they’d done it a year and a half ago.”