No. 1 UCLA got back to their winning ways with a run-rule defeat of UC Santa Barbara 15-3 in their midweek showdown at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Tuesday.
The Bruins were coming off of a 9-6 loss from Sacramento State and they responded vigorously and took out their frustration on the Gauchos, who had shut them out and ended their 27-game winning streak in their previous matchup on April 14. This time around, the Bruins' batters were superior on the plate with 15 hits and 10 walks leading to 15 runs and just four strikeouts.
UCLA didn't waste time to assert dominance against UC Santa Barbara with an electric top of the first coming from five hits leading to a 5-0 start. Junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky began the scoring frenzy with a two-run homer to left field.
The bats weren't as hot in the top of the second with a single hit, but Cholowsky got home for his second run of the game off of a sacrifice fly after Cholowsky worked a walk to get on base.
The Bruins began to cool down in the third and fourth innings with no hits or runs scored, but UCLA's pitching still held the Gauchos scoreless heading into the fifth.
UCLA's bats were set ablaze once more with a five hit, six run party in the top of the fifth that was set off by junior outfielder Payton Brennan's home run to center field to begin the inning. The Bruins gave up a homer in the bottom of the fifth, but they added a run in the top of the sixth to keep a 12-run lead.
In the top of the seventh, UCLA tacked on two more runs to their ever-growing lead, which made the Gauchos two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh insufficient. When the dust settled, UCLA had gotten UC Santa Barbara back for defeating them earlier in the month and extended their record to 40-4 for the season.
UCLA will head to East Lansing, Mi. to begin their Big Ten Conference series against Michigan State at Jeff Ishbia Field at McLane Stadium on Friday with an anticipated start time of 3:05 p.m. PT.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA Bruins baseball run-rule UC Santa Barbara Gauchos