LOS ANGELES – Washington State suffered a 6-5 defeat in 12 innings against No. 14 UCLA at Jackie Robinson Field Saturday afternoon.
The Cougars (7-11, 0-2 Pac-12) hit three home runs and junior Cameron Frost tallied three hits including his third homer of the season to lead the way. Senior Patrick McGrath tallied two hits and Weston Hatten and Justin Harrer each hit solo home runs. WSU led 4-1 before UCLA (10-7, 2-0 Pac-12) scored three runs in the sixth and answered Frost's seventh-inning blast with a run in the bottom half before singling home the winning run in the 12th. WSU limited the Bruins to seven hits but issued 14 walks and used nine pitchers throughout the day.
Hatten jumped on a 1-0 pitch for a long home run over the left centerfield fence for his third homer of the season. The Bruins evened things up in their half of the second with a bases-loaded walk and threatened more before left-handed reliever Damon Jones entered the game and induced an inning-ending flyout.
Washington State came right back with a run in the third. Chapman led off the inning with a double into right-centerfield and Frost followed with a perfectly placed bunt up the first base line to set up first and third with nobody out. McGrath stepped in and lined a 3-2 pitch into centerfield to score Chapman for a 2-1 lead.
The Cougars got a boost from a youngster in Harrer who led off the fourth with a solo shot to left-centerfield, the first of his career, before Frost led off the fifth with a double down the left field line and later came home on a Stefan Van Horn sacrifice fly for a 4-1 advantage.
WSU reliever Ryan Walker cruised through the fourth and fifth innings before running into trouble in the sixth. UCLA took advantage of some wildness by Walker who issued five walks in the frame. The Bruins pushed three runs across in the inning with a two-run double and another on a wild pitch that tied things up.
Again the WSU offense got a swing as Frost stayed hot for the Cougars, hammering a pitch deep over the left field fence to start the seventh for a 5-4 lead. The Bruins answered again with a run in their half of the seventh as two-out single to left field tied things up at five.
Both pitching staffs put zeros up on the scoreboard as reliever Kevin Calderhead ended a UCLA bases-loaded threat in the 11th inning with a strikeout. In the 12th, the Bruins led off the inning with a walk and caught a break with a WSU error on a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with nobody out. Following a pitching change, freshman reliever Ryley Widell struck out one hitter before UCLA lined a pitch into right field to score the winning run.
GAME NOTES…Frost recorded his team-leading ninth multi-hit game of the season… Stemp extended his hitting streak to six games, has recorded a hit in all 17 of his starts this season…the series wraps up Sunday at Noon on the Pac-12 Network.
