The last time there was a matchup between the Bruins and the Lions, it was a dogfight.
The two’s March 25 matchup featured three lead changes, ultimately culminating in a UCLA walk-off victory at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
And though just one run separated the two heading into the sixth inning of Tuesday’s rematch, there’d soon be little question over who was going to win the midweek affair.
Scoring in every inning from the fifth to the eighth, No. 14 UCLA baseball (33-11, 16-5 Big Ten) defeated Loyola Marymount (23-22, 10-8 WCC) 7-2 at Page Stadium in Westchester, Los Angeles, to sweep the season series.
Similar to UCLA’s last contest against LMU – and nearly every Bruin midweek affair this season – coach John Savage was quick to make a move to his bullpen Tuesday, utilizing seven pitchers across nine innings. Similarly, the Lions deployed nine hurlers in an attempt to subdue the Bruins’ bats.
When Justin Lee pitched at Page Stadium last year, the then-freshman right-hander tossed 3.1 innings of one-run ball – which remains a career-long – and picked up his first collegiate win. Tuesday, the now-sophomore once again showed a flash of what the Bruins’ closer – who currently boasts an 7.59 ERA – could be, striking out the side in the seventh, his only inning of work.
And in his first collegiate start, freshman right-hander CJ Bott struck out three across two scoreless and hitless frames.
“I just wanted to treat it like any other day, like I was still relieving and not make the moment too big,” Bott said.
Cal Randall, too, may have experienced a bit of deja vu Tuesday. The sophomore right-hander made his collegiate debut in Weschester on April 2, 2024 – striking out three across 1.2 frames. And Tuesday, Randall struck out two across 1.1 innings pitched.
And graduate student right-hander August Souza, who pitched the eighth, struck out two in his scoreless inning of work. Since beginning his Bruin career with six earned runs across 2.1 innings pitched, Souza has a 1.59 ERA across his last 11.1 frames and extended his scoreless innings streak to 5.1 Tuesday.
In total, the UCLA struck out 14 LMU batters while the Lions struck out just five Bruins.
Coupled with the consistent bullpen was an equally steady offense. All but two players in the Bruins’ lineup got a hit Tuesday, with three – redshirt senior right fielder AJ Salgado, sophomore third baseman Roman Martin and sophomore second baseman Grant Gray – recording multiple.
“Overall, I just thought they extended their at-bats, and it seemed like they put a lot of good at-bats together,” Savage said.
Of UCLA’s 10 hits, Salgado’s 10th home run of the season – an opposite field solo shot that led off the sixth – proved to be the game winner. Before this year, the most homers Salgado had hit in a single season was three, coming last year.
“Something that I haven’t been able to do the last couple of years was hit for more power,” Salgado said. “I’ve been able to do that this year so far, so it feels great.”
Freshman outfielder Logan de Groot made his first start since Feb. 26 Tuesday, appearing as UCLA’s designated hitter, while Gray made just his sixth start of the year – and just his third at second base.
Gray went 2-for-3, and de Groot laid down a sacrifice bunt in the sixth to advance redshirt sophomore center fielder Payton Brennan to third, who would score later on a sophomore catcher Cashel Dugger RBI groundout.
“We need to stretch the lineup as much as we can,” Savage said. “We need to have nine tough outs, and I thought we did that tonight. We had a lot of people (who) contributed. I mean, we had some guys play tonight that hadn’t been playing.”
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