The Los Angeles Regional got off to a horrendous start for the No. 1 UCLA Bruins on Friday, with the Bruins dropping their opener to Saint Mary’s 3-2. The Gaels weren’t intimidated by UCLA’s ranking, knocking off UCLA on their home field.
Wylan Moss made the start for UCLA and pitched well, going five innings while allowing two runs and picking up four strikeouts. Saint Mary’s drew first blood in the fourth inning, as Jac Johnson got ahead in the count and made Moss pay by slugging a solo home run out to right field.
UCLA answered back in the bottom of the inning, with third baseman Roman Martin evening the game with a solo shot of his own. Martin took Gaels starting pitcher John Damozonio deep out to center for Martin’s eighth of the year.
Besides the home run, it was a pretty outstanding start for Damozonio. The right-hander went seven innings and allowed two runs with six strikeouts. The second run allowed for Damozonio was in the fifth inning with Roch Cholowsky driving in Trey Gudoy with a sacrifice fly to take a 2-1 lead.
Saint Mary’s would knot the ballgame up again in the sixth. Moss would get pulled after allowing a leadoff walk, with the Gaels’ Mak Sniffen doubling against Landon Stump to make it a 2-2 game.
The scoring would resume in the ninth inning, with Saint Mary’s pushing a run across against terrific UCLA reliever Easton Hawk with a second Johnson homer of the game. Johnson went 3-4 in the game, scoring two of the three runs for the Gaels. Initially it looked as if Johnson’s hit wouldn’t leave the ballpark, but it just kept carrying, landing just over the wall.
The Bruins went quietly in the bottom of the ninth, with Cholowsky making the final out of the game with a fly ball to center field. UCLA wasn’t quite at full strength for the loss, with outfielder Will Gasparino serving his one game suspension after being ejected against Oregon last week and Logan Reddemann still sidelined with arm fatigue.
UCLA now finds themselves under a lot of pressure, as they’ll face the loser of Cal Poly-Virginia Tech on Saturday at 1:00pm Pacific Time.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: No. 1 UCLA falls 3-2 to Saint Mary’s to begin the Los Angeles Regional
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
