Three Bruins homer in 5-3 UCLA victory over Sacramento State
· Yahoo Sports
The No. 1 UCLA Bruins posted three solo home runs and showed decisive base running to overcome Sacramento State in a 5-3 victory, Saturday afternoon.
The long ball was a common sight as rain sprinkled down at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Home runs from Roch Cholowsky, Mulivai Levu, and Will Gasparino were enough to match Sacramento State's three runs.
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But UCLA took advantage of a wild pitch from Sacramento State pitcher Colin Hunter that scored Cashel Dugger to give the Bruins a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning. Three wild pitches and a pass ball occurred in the afternoon as weather became a factor for both teams.
UCLA closer Easton Hawk gained his third win of the season after he appeared in the eighth inning with one out and two runners on base. Hawk struck out two Sacramento State batters, then retired three straight in the ninth to secure the victory.
Bruins' starter Michael Barnett provided another reliable outing, having given up three hits and two runs after five innings pitched. Barnett gave up a two-run home run to Jakob Poturnak in the first inning, but allowed just four base runners the remainder of his day.
UCLA third baseman Roman Martin extended his on-base streak to 36 games with a single to right field in the first inning. Martin is eighth in the Big 10 in on-base percentage with .475.
Cholowsky scored the first run of the game for the Bruins with a homer pulled to left field in the third inning, his 15th of the season.
Levu knocked his own home run in the fifth inning as the rain began to come down. It was his second-straight game with a home run, the other being in the eighth inning of Friday's game that cut Sacramento's lead to one.
Gasparino hit his 18th homer of the season to right field in the sixth inning to give UCLA their first lead of the game at 3-2. That homer tied Gasparino with Penn State's Michael Anderson for most home runs in the Big Ten. UCLA currently sits at second in home runs in the Big Ten with 71, sitting behind Oregon.
Sacramento State struggled to find run support to back up their hot start in the first inning. The Hornets gained just five hits in the game and earned their third run in the seventh inning from a sacrifice fly ball from Jamie Mullin that scored Jace Jeremiah.
The Bruins' record reached 39-3 on the season and their win streak expanded to six games. The Hornets dropped to 19-25.
UCLA will host game three of the weekend series against Sacramento State before heading on a five-game road trip.
UCLA will look to claim their 40th win of the season on Sunday in the third match against Sacramento State. Game three of the series will start at 1 p.m. PST on Sunday.