UCLA Baseball Eliminated in Regionals

Release from UCLA:

LOS ANGELES – The top-seeded UCLA baseball team ran out of comebacks on Sunday, as fourth-seeded Saint Mary’s turned the tables to eliminate the Bruins on a come-from-behind 6-5 victory in 10 innings at the NCAA Regional.

The Gaels took a page out of the UCLA playbook, tying the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on an Ian Armstrong single that scored Tanner Griffith from second. Saint Mary’s walked it off in the 10th on a two-out RBI single by Makoa Sniffen. The Gaels scored five of their six runs with two outs.

Saint Mary’s (36-26) will turn around and face third-seeded Cal Poly at 6 p.m. Sunday night to try to force a winner-take-all game on Monday.

The loss was UCLA’s second against the Gaels in the Regional. Saint Mary’s beat the Bruins in the first game, 3-2.

UCLA (52-8) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring one run in the first and two in the second. Roman Martin drove in Roch Cholowsky in the first inning, and a Trey Gudoy RBI double and Dean West RBI groundout plated two more for the Bruins in the second.

St. Mary’s chipped away at the lead in the second and third innings. The Gaels scored one in the second after stringing together three singles and nearly scored more after loading the bases, but Aiden Aguayo made a strong throw on a chopper up the middle to get Sniffen at first to end the inning. Armstrong led off the third with a home run to center to trim UCLA’s lead to 3-2.

The Bruins scored a pair of runs in the fifth to increase their lead to 5-2. With one out, West hit a solo home run, his seventh of the year. Cholowsky followed with a single, Mulivai Levu smacked a double to deep center, and Roman Martin walked to load the bases, forcing the Gaels into a pitching change. Cam Staton came in to face Will Gasparino with the bases loaded and hit the Bruin slugger with his first pitch to force in another run but then struck out the next two batters to escape further damage. Staton, who pitched 4.2 innings, got out of another bases loaded jam in the top of the ninth. He finished with five strikeouts on the day and allowed just two hits with zero runs.

The Gaels rallied in the fifth and sixth to pull within one run. Jacob Johnson hit a solo home run in the fifth, his third against the Bruins this weekend. Saint Mary’s capitalized on a hit batter and wild pitch in the sixth inning, using a RBI single by Diego Castellanos to close the gap to one run, 5-4. Johnson nearly hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, but Call made a leaping catch at the wall for the out, and the Bruins turned a double play in the next at-bat to get out of the inning.

UCLA starter Angel Cervantes finished his day hitting career highs in strikeouts (seven), innings pitched (5.1) and pitches thrown (94). The freshman allowed four runs in a no-decision. Easton Hawk (7-4) pitched the final 1.2 innings and took the loss for the Bruins.

“[Angel] threw the ball very well,” said UCLA baseball head coach John Savage. “I thought Angel really grew up. He turned a corner. It’s taken Angel a little while to get where he’s at, and it’s fun to watch, fun to call pitches for him. He’s going to be a star.”

The UCLA baseball team finishes its season with a school-record-tying 52 wins.