#17 UCLA Bruins have won 10 of their last 13 games and are aiding their sensational pitching by putting some runs on the board consistently. This could be an opportunity for them to take control of the Pac-12
The #17 UCLA Bruins baseball team (17-10, 6-3) got back on the winning track Tuesday night, defeating Loyola Marymount 5-3 at Page Stadium. The Bruins continue to play well on the road as they remain undefeated away from Jackie Robinson Stadium with a 5-0 record.
After trailing early in the game, UCLA rallied behind a balanced offensive attack with five different players driving in runs. Right fielder Christoph Bono was the catalyst going 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a run scored. Sophomore left fielder Ty Moore, third baseman Chris Keck, and designated hitter Kort Peterson each had RBI singles.
The Bruins also got a strong pitching performance from right-hander Grant Dyer. The freshman secured his fourth win of the season allowing two runs on nine hits and striking out two over 5.2 innings pitched. Reliever David Berg shut the door on Loyola Marymount, recording his eighth save of the year. He pitched a scoreless inning and two-thirds and struck out three.
Dyer continues to impress since being moved into the rotation. The Laguna Niguel native has a 4-2 record and a 2.18 ERA with 23 strikeouts. Opposing teams are hitting just .216 against him.
UCLA have started well in April after playing great baseball throughout March. Even though they ended the month losing two out of three to Pac-12 rival Arizona State, the Bruins had won eight of nine going into that weekend series and went 11-6 overall in March.
The Bruins have shown they can win games in a variety of ways and their bats have awoken after struggling at the beginning of March. Bono has played a big role in jump-starting the offense. The red-shirt sophomore leads the team with 17 RBIs and 10 doubles. He has a .304 batting average (third-best on UCLA) and a .422 slugging percentage (second-best).
Moore has also stepped up and been hitting well lately. The Mission Viejo product is batting .284 with one home run, two stolen bases and 14 RBIs, including a clutch hit last month. Moore hit a two-run walk-off single in the 10th inning to give the Bruins an 8-7 win over Washington State on March 23.
Outfielder Brian Carroll is following up his strong 2013 campaign with a productive 2014 season. Last year, Carroll made the All-Pac-12 honorable mention and led UCLA and the Pac-12 with 32 stolen bases. He also led the Bruins with 50 runs scored. The senior is picking up right where he left off leading the team with five stolen bases and 18 runs scored. Carroll is also tied for first on UCLA with a .429 on-base percentage and batting .309, which is second-best on the team, while driving in nine runs.
If the Bruins continue to deliver consistent offense like they have been doing over the past month and combine that with their stellar pitching (which boasts a team ERA of 2.70), they will be in terrific position to make another deep College World Series run.
They have an opportunity to move up the national rankings in the upcoming weeks with an easy schedule. It will not start out that way, however, as they will be facing SoCal foe Long Beach State in a 3-game weekend series and then a road game against #16 Cal State Fullerton. After those games, the Bruins will be playing struggling Pac-12 teams like Arizona (12-18), Utah (9-17), the cross-town rival USC Trojans (14-13), and Stanford (10-11).
If UCLA can take advantage of this lighter schedule and beat the teams they are supposed to beat, they can ascend up the top-25. This will pay huge dividends later in the season when they are yearning for a better seed in the NCAA tournament.
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