The No. 1 UCLA baseball suffered their first Big Ten Conference loss of the season against No. 13 Oregon in their 9-6 ballgame at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Saturday.
The Bruins win in the series opener had just matched the 1911 Illinois team’s Big Ten record for the 27 straight conference wins, but the record will not be broken by the Bruins this season. The Ducks stingy defensive unit gave the Bruins batters plenty of trouble as they allowed just seven hits and six runs and a couple of bad innings from UCLA’s bullpen was all Oregon needed to get the runs needed for the win.
Starting off strong
The Bruins started the game off strong with no base runners in the top of the first and four runs in the bottom of the inning. Junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky started the scoring spree with a home run to left-center, followed by junior first baseman Mulivai Levu running home from second base off a double hit by redshirt junior outfielder Payton Brennan.
Another double by junior outfielder Will Gasparino sent Brennan home and then Gasparino crossed home plate off of a single by junior center Cashel Dugger. UCLA walked into the second with a 4-0 lead.
Falling apart in the second
Senior right-handed pitcher Michael Barnett had his worst inning of the game in the second. After allowing a run, Barnett gave up a three-run homer to have the Ducks tie the game up with four runs. Barnett allowed one more hit in the fourth, but he held firm to keep Oregon at four runs.
Barnett ended his time on the mound with five hits and two walks for four runs, while getting three strikeouts over his four innings.
Regaining control
The Bruins regained the lead in the bottom of the third with a homer to left field by Gasparino. The score would remain situated at 5-4 up until the seventh. Oregon and UCLA each had just one hit from the fourth to the sixth inning.
Runs in the seventh
Both teams scored runs in the seventh with Oregon getting the better of junior right-handed pitcher Cal Randall. The Ducks put up a run without a hit thanks to walk, a stolen base and a balk leading to a run for junior utility player Jack Brooks off of a grounded out by their teammate.
UCLA responded by sending Cholowsky up to bat and he sent the pitch flying out of the park for his second home run of the game.
Losing it in the eighth
The Bruins made two pitching adjustments in the top of the eighth, but they couldn’t stifle the Ducks offensive momentum. After Oregon scored a run earlier in the inning, Brooks batted a double to left center that sent three more of his teammates home to take the lead 9-6.
UCLA was unable to respond in the eighth or ninth innings and they fell for the first time this season to a conference opponent.
The Bruins won’t be able to sweep Oregon, but they will look to take the series win in the finale on Sunday with an anticipated start time at noon PT.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: No. 1 UCLA baseball loses first conference game of the season
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
