LOS ANGELES – Utah battled No. 23 nationally-ranked UCLA for 12 innings and had chances to get on the board late in the ballgame, but it was the Bruins who scored the first and only run of the night as Utah fell by a 1-0 score on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Keenan Proctor led off the home half of the 12
th for UCLA, reaching on a bunt single. Then after another bunt laid down by Josh Hahn plus an error, the Utes intentionally walked Kyle Karros to create a force at home plate. Nine-hole hitter JonJon Vaughns then put a single through the left side to bring the ballgame to an end.
The end result did not take away from what was otherwise a commendable night for a Utah pitching staff that dealt 11-plus shutout innings.
Bryson Van Sickle earned the start and went 5.1 innings, fanning four against four hits and two walks.
Cam Day and
Zac McCleve then put up zeros into the ninth inning, before
Micah Ashman came on for the rest of the night and struck out three along the way.
Three Utes had multi-hit efforts in
Kai Roberts,
Jayden Kiernan and
Bruer Webster. Webster also flashed the leather several times defensively at second base and stole two bases on the night.
Both teams had several chances to break the ice over the first nine innings. But for every time a runner would get in scoring position, just as quickly the other side would counter with a strikeout or nice defensive play to get out unharmed.
In the top of the ninth
TJ Clarkson led off with a opposite field double and got to third with one out, but was ultimately stranded there. Kiernan got as far as second base in the 11
th inning, then in the 12
th Webster reached on a bunt single, stole second and then hustled to third base when the throw got away. But with Webster just 90 feet away, UCLA got out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Utah will look to close the series at UCLA on a high note with a 1 p.m. MT matchup on Saturday.
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