This post updated March 13 at 9:54 p.m.
Sophomore right-hander Cody Delvecchio could only watch after throwing his first pitch Tuesday.
The ball sailed off an opponent’s bat and over the left field wall – a scene all too familiar for the Bruins this year.
Two days after a three-run homer ended their series in Berkeley, another long ball cemented a defeat back home.
UCLA baseball (5-10, 0-3 Pac-12) dropped a midweek match against Connecticut (4-9) at Jackie Robinson Stadium by a score of 5-2, extending its losing streak to seven – tying the Bruins’ longest losing streak since 2015.
“It’s not Mount Everest,” said coach John Savage. “We got to stay with the process and stay with each other.”
To start the game, Savage gave the ball to Landon Stump for his third start of the season – all coming in midweek outings.
The freshman right-hander followed up his last start – four innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts – with three shutout innings and a strikeout on Tuesday, giving Stump a 2.60 ERA over his last 17.1 innings pitched.
In his first appearance since Feb. 28, freshman right-hander Justin Lee allowed one run over two innings while punching out three Husky batters.
“I thought he threw the ball pretty good – it was 91-94 (miles per hour) with a good breaking ball,” Savage said. “I liked Stump and Lee, so credit to them – they’re getting better.”
Then came a four-run top of the sixth, highlighted by Connecticut first baseman Luke Broadhurst’s three-run no-doubter to deep left field.
The damage was done – the Bruin bats only managed two runs on three hits with much of the offense coming from a single player.
Freshman infielder Roman Martin, in his fourth career start, went 2-for-3 with a double, walk, two RBI and his first career home run – a solo shot roped just inside the left field foul pole.
“The biggest thing for me was not letting the moment get the best of me,” Martin said. “I tried to slow the game down, and that’s exactly what I did.”
The Bruins’ All-Pac-12 Preseason selections, junior infielders Cody Schrier and Duce Gourson, went just 1-for-9 with five strikeouts.
In the ninth, after a four-pitch strikeout marked his third of the day, Gourson argued the called third strike with home plate umpire Michael Chukerman, who promptly ejected him.
“Baseball is a hard game,” Savage said.
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