For both the Bruins and the Lions, offense came right off the bat.
No. 10 UCLA baseball (13-6, 2-1 Pac-12) defeated Loyola Marymount (7-12, 0-3 WCC) on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium 13-6, giving the Bruins a 2-0 advantage in their season series against the Lions. All 19 runs scored in the contest came in the first three frames, including 21 of the 27 hits recorded by either team.
“That first inning, I haven’t seen that at Jackie in a long, long time,” said coach John Savage. “They put up a three, we put up an eight. They came back with two – we put up one, they came back with one. I mean, it’s really crazy to think that all the runs were scored in the first three innings of the game.”
LMU opened up its offensive efforts two pitches into the contest with an 0-1 double from center fielder Kenny Oyama, who later scored on a single. Catcher Alec Cargin hammered a shot to right for a two-run home run, giving the Lions a three-run lead.
UCLA responded immediately, putting up eight runs in the first inning, the most of any inning this season. Redshirt junior center fielder Kevin Kendall mirrored Oyama’s performance with a leadoff double of his own, later scoring on a sacrifice fly.
While junior second baseman Mikey Perez’s two-out fielder’s choice should have ended the frame for the Bruins, both he and junior shortstop Matt McLain – who had singled earlier in the frame – advanced 90 feet because of a throwing error by the Lions’ shortstop. This error started a seven-run two-out rally for UCLA, including a three-RBI double by McLain in his second at-bat of the inning.
“(The error) was important,” McLain said. “It gave us the opportunity to continue to pass the baton down the line and continue to put at-bats together.”
Despite putting up two more runs in the second on two singles and adding another via a solo home run in the third, LMU only managed three more hits for the rest of the contest. Bruin pitchers retired nine Lions batters in a row beginning in the third frame when sophomore right-hander Charles Harrison retired the side and sophomore left-hander Jake Saum tossed two three-up, three-down frames.
Tuesday was a night of firsts for several Bruin players. Freshman right-hander Jake Brooks made his first collegiate start, sophomore catcher Darius Perry recorded his first hit and freshman right-hander Max Rajcic made his collegiate debut, taking over for Saum in the top of the sixth. Rajcic allowed a leadoff double but retired the next three batters in order, picking up his first strikeout.
“We liked (Rajcic’s performance),” Savage said. “He’s 92, 93 (miles per hour) with a good curveball. He wasn’t particularly sharp, I would say, but leadoff double doesn’t score, that’s always a good sign. He gets a ground ball and then he gets a strikeout, then he gets the third out so I thought he was competitive. He’s healthy, (so) it’s gonna be a really nice addition to the bullpen.”
None of the 13 pitchers who took the mound for either team threw more than 2.1 innings, with UCLA playing a bullpen game and LMU coming off five games in six days. Brooks’ first start lasted only four outs as he allowed five runs on five hits and a walk in his 40-pitch outing.
Senior right-hander Adrian Chaidez took over for Brooks, tossing 0.2 innings, and earned his first win of the season.
Redshirt freshman left fielder Emanuel Dean – in his fourth game of the season – went 4-for-5 with three singles and his first career triple, batting in four runs.
“I feel pretty good, honestly,” Dean said. “I just want to thank the coaches and my teammates, especially, for being there for me each and every single day so it just feels really good – good experience.”
UCLA will take on USC next for its second Pac-12 series of the season, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. on Friday at Dedeaux Field.
