The UCLA baseball team closed out the weekend with a 10-inning win against No. 4 Mississippi State at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday.
The Bruins’ bullpen had a difficult night with six pitchers giving up 14 hits and seven runs and getting 12-strikeouts. Junior Landon Stump started on the mound and went 3.1 innings. He allowed four hits for two runs and three strikeouts. Sophomore Easton Hawk closed the game with 2.1 innings and gave up five hits for two runs and four strikeouts.
UCLA junior outfielder Will Gasparino hit a two-run homer in the top of the third to put the Bruins up, 3-0. The Bruins were able to tag another run off two hits in the top of the fourth, but the Bulldogs tied it up with three runs of their own off three hits in the bottom of the fourth.
MSU scored in the bottom of the seventh for a 4-3 lead. A home run in the bottom of the eighth widened the gap for the Bulldogs to 5-3 heading into the ninth.
UCLA had two outs in the top of the ninth, but junior infielder Roch Cholowsky hit a two-run homer to center field to tie the game and force extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, the Bruins had two outs, but a wild pitch allowed redshirt junior outfielder Payton Brennan to score. Next up to bat was redshirt sophomore outfielder Aidan Espinoza, who hit a triple to score Gasparino and freshman infielder Aiden Aguayo and put UCLA up 8-5.
The Bulldogs hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the tenth, but Hawk was able to cool them off to get UCLA an 8-7 win.
UCLA will head home to Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles and take on Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday at 5 p.m. PT.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA baseball goes extra innings to beat Mississippi State
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
