UCLA Baseball Tops Gonzaga, 6-1, As Bouchard Hits 2 HRs

So far this season, the #1 opponent of UCLA Baseball has been the weather not the opposing team. That could prove to be the case again today as the team tries for a series win against Gonzaga, assuming, of course, that they are able to get the game in.

That wasn’t a problem yesterday afternoon when the Bruins were able to even the series at one game each. UCLA got a strong start from Jake Bird, who pitched 6 shutout innings to earn his second win of the season.

The bullpen has been a little shaky so far this season. So, it was a good thing the Bruin bats let Bird leave the game when UCLA had been up 5-0.

Sean Bouchard hit what would prove to be the game-winning home run in the bottom of the first when he hit a blast to center that would also drive in Brett Stephens to give UCLA a 2-0 lead. Chase Strump added an insurance run in the fourth with his homer to left.

It was deja vu all over again when Bouchard came to the plate in the bottom of the 6th with Stephens on first after a walk. That’s when he blasted his second 2-run home run of the game. This time, he went to the opposite field with a shot to right and UCLA had a 5-0 lead.

Matt Walker and Scott Burker each pitched a scoreless inning as the Bruins kept the shutout going.

In the bottom of the eighth, Ryan Kriedler got the inning started with a double down the line to left and he moved to third on Daniel Rosica’s sacrifice bunt. Kriedler then scored on Daniel Amaral’s single through the right side of the infield to make it 6-0, Bruins.

John Savage went to the pen for the ninth, but, rather than bringing in Brian Gadsby, he opted to go to Moises Ceja. Things got a little rough as the Zags mounted their first rally of the game. It started when Daniel Fredrickson pinch hit for DH Nick Brooks and singled up the middle. Jake Vieth moved him to third when he doubled. Fredrickson would then score on a passed ball and Vieth moved up to third. Ceja then managed to calm down and pick up the final two outs to seal the 6-1 win for the Bruins.

Today’s game is scheduled for 1pm with Jon Olsen on the mound for the Bruins and freshman righthander Casey Legumina pitching for Gonzaga.

In case you can’t make it, you can always listen online to John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm call the game via streaming online audio. You can also follow along with the UCLA Stat Broadcast.

This is your Gonzaga vs. UCLA game three open thread.


Go Bruins!