LOS ANGELES (March 16, 2024) – Washington State received five innings from Duke Brotherton out of the bullpen as the Cougars evened the series with a 12-5 win over UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium Saturday afternoon.
 
WSU (10-7, 2-3 Pac-12) broke a 4-4 tie with four runs in the fourth, one in the sixth and pulled away with three more in the ninth for its first win at UCLA since 2014, snapping an 11-game streak. Seven Cougar starters recorded hits as leadoff man Max Hartman had two hits and drove in three runs, designated hitter Trey Cruz had four RBI, third baseman Cole Cramer scored three times and nine-hole hitter Crew Parke reached base in all five plate appearances and drove in two runs.
 
Brotherton provided the big boost, taking over to start the fourth inning and fired four scoreless innings, striking out a career-high five before allowing a run in the eighth inning. The senior righthander earned the win after holding UCLA to just three hits in a career-high five innings.
 
KEY MOMENTS OF THE GAME
In the first inning, Max Hartman bunted the first pitch of the game down the third-base line for an infield single and later moved to third on a Casen Taggart single through the right side. Kramer followed with an RBI-single back up the middle for the 1-0 lead. In the UCLA first, the Bruins pushed three runs across with four hits and an error.
 
In the second, WSU loaded the bases and plated three runs with a Crew Park RBI-single just out of the reach of a leaping UCLA second baseman, Hartman followed with a bases-loaded walk and Taggart added a run-scoring sacrifice fly to make a 4-3 lead. UCLA evened things up with a sacrifice fly in the third inning.
 
In the fourth, WSU pushed four across on a Trey Cruz sacrifice fly and three-straight bases-loaded hit-by-pitches to Nate Swarts, Parke and Hartman for an 8-4 lead. Brotherton took over for Wilford to start the fourth inning and settled in, posting scoreless fourth, fifth and sixth innings. WSU received a two-out RBI-single from Hartman in the sixth that pushed the lead to 9-4.
 
Brotherton was dominant with four-straight scoreless frames, striking out a career-high five along the way. UCLA hit a solo homer to lead off the eighth but Brotherton used a 5-4-3 double play and a groundout to end the Bruin threat.
 
WSU pulled away in the ninth as Cruz cleared the bases with an opposite-field double to left field that cleared the bases for a three-run double. Cougar lefthander Carson Judd worked a perfect ninth to close things out.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Joey Kramer singled in the 1st inning to extend his on-base streak to 10 games
Nate Swarts walked in the 3^rd to extend his on-base streak to all 16 games
 
NEXT UP
The series wraps up Sunday at Noon.