LOS ANGELES (March 15, 2024) – Washington State dropped the series-opener at UCLA 4-1 at Jackie Robinson Stadium Friday evening.
 
The Cougars received two-hit games from designated hitter Casen Taggart and Cole Cramer as Taggart broke a scoreless tie with a sixth-inning solo home run. UCLA answered with four runs on three walks and three hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the opener.
 
WSU starting pitcher Grant Taylor fired five scoreless innings and struck out a season-high six before running into trouble in the sixth inning. Taggart and Cramer also stole a base.
 
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
Both starting pitchers ended threats in the early innings as WSU left a pair of runners on in the second and Taylor ended a Bruin threat in the third. UCLA put runners on first and second with nobody out but Taylor struck out the next hitter before ending the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. The Cougars put runners on the corners in the fourth but UCLA kept the game scoreless with a fielder's choice groundout.
 
In the sixth, Taggart gave the Cougars a 1-0 lead with a two-out two-strike long solo homer high over the right field fence. In the bottom of the inning, UCLA loaded the bases with nobody out on an infield single and pair of walks and scored four runs in the inning on a bases-loaded walk and three hits for a 4-1 advantage.
 
WSU put a runner on in the seventh and ninth innings but the Bruin bullpen ended the threats to preserve the 4-1 lead.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Joey Kramer singled in the 4th inning to extend his on-base streak to 9 games
Nate Swarts singled in the 5^th inning to extend his on-base streak to all 15 games
 
NEXT UP
The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m.