No. 1 UCLA baseball won their final nonconference game of the regular season with an 8-4 thrashing of LMU at Page Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. on Tuesday.
The Bruins continued to build off of their success from their series sweep against Michigan State and extended their win streak to five games to bolster their overall record to 44-4. UCLA handled business on the mound with seven pitchers limiting the Lions to five hits and four runs, while recording 11 strikeouts.
Three in the first
UCLA’s three-run start to the game began with junior outfielder Dean West scoring off of a wild pitch. Junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky was next with a sacrifice fly sending him across the plate from third base. Junior infielder Roman Martin put up the final run of the inning with a single scoring him from third.
Splitting runs
Sophomore centerfielder Kasen Khansarinia extended the Bruins lead to 4-0 in the top of the second with a double to left field by Martin sending him home. The Lions split the inning with UCLA with their first run of the game coming off of a wild pitch from freshman right-handed pitcher Angel Cervantes.
Three more in the third
UCLA added three more runs in the top of the third without being credited for a hit. Freshman outfielder Trey Gudoy started the scoring spree by heading home from third after Khansarinia was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Freshman infielder Dominic Cadiz was next, scoring a run from third off of a fielder’s choice and junior infielder Phoenix Call ended the scoring with a run off of a wild pitch.
Running in the fifth
After a scoreless fourth, UCLA finished their scoring with Call’s second run of the game off of a lined out by Khansarinia in the top of the fifth. The Lions attempted to roar back in the bottom of the fifth as senior right-handed pitcher Jack O’Connor gave up a three-run homer to cut the Bruins lead in half.
Slow finish
Neither team would put up another run in the final four innings of the game. In fact, UCLA had two more hits in the rest of the game, one in the seventh and one in the ninth. The Lions struggled even more with their only hit during the final stretch coming in the bottom of the seventh.
The Bruins will begin their second to last regular season series against No. 14 Oregon on Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif. with an anticipated start time of 7 p.m. PT.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: No. 1 UCLA baseball cruises past the LMU Lions with 8-4 victory
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
