UCLA Comes Up Short Against CSUN

Eric Filia (Photo by Katie Meyers)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The UCLA Bruins fell to the CSUN Matadors, 4-1, in a midweek contest on Tuesday evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

UCLA starter Jake Bird (1-3) got the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits in five innings of work. CSUN reliever Ray Diaz (1-0) earned the win after striking out three in two scoreless innings and Conner O’Neil (6) netted the save with a 1.1-inning scoreless effort.

The Bruins struggled with the bat, totaling just three hits in the loss. Eric Filia (0-for-1, RBI, BB, HBP) drove in the lone run and reached base twice.

CSUN (21-8) broke a scoreless tie to take the lead with a two-out RBI single from Justin Toerner in
the fourth inning. After Yusuke Akitoshi singled, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice, Toerner drove him in with a single up the middle to lift the Matadors to the early, 1-0, advantage.

After adding a run on a wild pitch in the fifth, the Matadors plated two more in the sixth to extend their lead to four. Albee Weiss delivered an RBI-single and Branden Berry came home on a passed ball to give CSUN the 4-0 lead.

UCLA (12-14) got back within three in the eighth inning on a sac-fly from Eric Filia. Brett Urabe led off the inning with a double, moved over to third on a groundout and then came home on the sac-fly to make the score, 4-1. However, that would be the lone run for the Bruin offense in the three-run defeat.

The Bruin bullpen was strong tonight as Hunter Virant, Nathan Hadley, Scott Burke, Moises Ceja and Brian Gadsby all combined to throw four scoreless innings to keep UCLA within striking distance.
UCLA will now host the Stanford Cardinal for a three-game series this weekend beginning on Thursday, April 7 at 7:00pm PT. Tickets are available and can be purchased by visiting uclabruins.com/tickets or by calling 310-UCLA-WIN. Fans can watch the action live on the Pac-12 Network or listen live on uclabruins.com.

Notes: Eric Filia has reached base in all 26 games this season…Filia has not struck out since February 28, going 73 consecutive at-bats without a punch out…Brett Urabe is currently riding a five-game hit streak…Trent Chatterton has reached base in 12 consecutive games…Christoph Bono is two appearances away from 200 games played in his career.