LOS ANGELES – The No. 1-ranked UCLA baseball team fell to Sacramento State, 9-6, in Sunday’s series finale at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Despite a two-homer performance from Roch Cholowsky, the Bruins (39-4) surrendered a season-high nine runs and were unable to climb out of a six-run deficit by the sixth inning. Cholowsky’s pair of blasts, his 16th and 17th of the season, highlighted a strong day at the plate, marking his fourth multi-homer game of the year.
Dean West, Roman Martin, and Kasen Khansarinia each recorded two hits, while Mulivai Levu, Will Gasparino, Payton Brennan, and Jarrod Hocking added one hit apiece.
Landon Stump (2-1) took his first loss of the season after allowing five runs over 3.0 innings.
UCLA grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second when Khansarinia delivered a two-out RBI single, bringing home Brennan after his leadoff walk.
The Hornets answered with a five-run third inning, using back-to-back walks followed by three straight hits, including a home run from Jakob Posternak, to surge in front. The five-run frame matched the most runs UCLA has surrendered in a single inning this season.
The Bruins got a run back in the fourth when Brennan drilled a triple off the center-field wall, then scored on Aiden Aguayo’s sacrifice fly. UCLA started to chip away when Cholowsky smoked a line drive that snuck over the left-field wall to make it a two-run ballgame.
Sacramento State capitalized on a defensive miscue to push a run across in the sixth, then added three more runs in the seventh to extend the advantage to six.
The Bruins clawed closer in the seventh when Cholowsky crushed his second homer of the day, a towering three-run shot that sliced the deficit in half.
UCLA was unable to mount a comeback over the final two frames, suffering just its fourth defeat of the season.
The Bruins begin a four-game road trip on Tuesday, April 28 when they travel to UC Santa Barbara. First pitch is set for 4:35 p.m. at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, with live coverage available on ESPN+
Despite a two-homer performance from Roch Cholowsky, the Bruins (39-4) surrendered a season-high nine runs and were unable to climb out of a six-run deficit by the sixth inning. Cholowsky’s pair of blasts, his 16th and 17th of the season, highlighted a strong day at the plate, marking his fourth multi-homer game of the year.
Dean West, Roman Martin, and Kasen Khansarinia each recorded two hits, while Mulivai Levu, Will Gasparino, Payton Brennan, and Jarrod Hocking added one hit apiece.
Landon Stump (2-1) took his first loss of the season after allowing five runs over 3.0 innings.
UCLA grabbed the lead in the bottom of the second when Khansarinia delivered a two-out RBI single, bringing home Brennan after his leadoff walk.
The Hornets answered with a five-run third inning, using back-to-back walks followed by three straight hits, including a home run from Jakob Posternak, to surge in front. The five-run frame matched the most runs UCLA has surrendered in a single inning this season.
The Bruins got a run back in the fourth when Brennan drilled a triple off the center-field wall, then scored on Aiden Aguayo’s sacrifice fly. UCLA started to chip away when Cholowsky smoked a line drive that snuck over the left-field wall to make it a two-run ballgame.
Sacramento State capitalized on a defensive miscue to push a run across in the sixth, then added three more runs in the seventh to extend the advantage to six.
The Bruins clawed closer in the seventh when Cholowsky crushed his second homer of the day, a towering three-run shot that sliced the deficit in half.
UCLA was unable to mount a comeback over the final two frames, suffering just its fourth defeat of the season.
The Bruins begin a four-game road trip on Tuesday, April 28 when they travel to UC Santa Barbara. First pitch is set for 4:35 p.m. at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, with live coverage available on ESPN+
