UCLA Takes Road Victory at Pepperdine

Brett Urabe (Photo by Scott Chandler)

MALIBU, Calif. – The UCLA Bruins used a seven-run sixth inning to capture their second consecutive midweek win and defeat the Pepperdine Waves, 10-6, on Tuesday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium.

The Bruins reached double-digit hits for the eighth time this season, racking up 17 in total, their second-highest mark. Brett Urabe (4-for-5, 2B, 2 R) led the way with a career-high four hits, while Daniel Rosica (1-for-1, 2B, 3 RBI) drove in a career-high three runs to aid the effort.

UCLA reliever Justin Hooper (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory, pitching one perfect inning out
of the bullpen, adding two strikeouts. Jonathan Pendergast (2-2) received the loss for the Waves, allowing two runs on one hit without recording an out.

Pepperdine (18-17) got on the board quickly in the bottom of the first to take the early lead on the Bruins. Matthew Kanfer hit a one-out single and was followed with a walk to put two on. Brad Anderson then singled through the left side of the infield to plate Kanfer and deliver the Waves a one-run lead.

That was backed up with another run in the second and two in the third to extend the Pepperdine lead to 4-0. RBI-singles from Chris Fornaci and Matt Gelalich along with a run-scoring error propelled the Waves to the four-run cushion.

UCLA (16-18) got one in the fourth to climb back within three. With the bases loaded and two outs, Rosica was hit with a pitch to force a run in and cut the deficit to 4-1.

The Bruins then exploded in the sixth, bringing 11 men to the plate, recording seven runs on six hits to capture a four-run lead. Rosica got the scoring started with a double to right that brought two runs across. UCLA then went on to add RBI-singles from Luke Persico and Kort Peterson, a two-RBI double from Brett Stephens and a sac-fly from Sean Bouchard to go up, 8-4.

Eric Filia then drove in runs in the seventh and ninth for UCLA, while the Waves scored runs in the eighth and ninth to bring the final count to 10-6.

The Bruins will head back to Pac-12 Conference play this weekend when they host the Oregon Ducks for a three-game series beginning on Thursday, April 21 at 7:00pm PT. Tickets are available for all three games and can be purchased by visiting uclabruins.com/tickets or by calling 310-UCLA-WIN. The series can be seen live on the Pac-12 Network and heard live at uclabruins.com.

Notes: Eric Filia has reached base in 33 of 34 games this season…Kort Peterson extended his hit streak to seven games…Brett Urabe extended his hit streak to five games…Urabe set a new single game career-high with four hits…Daniel Rosica set a new single game career-high with three RBI…Filia and Peterson each tied their single game season-highs with three hits…Justin Hooper earned his first collegiate victory…Jon Olsen made his first collegiate start…UCLA has won its last six matchups with Pepperdine at Eddy D. Field Stadium…Head Coach John Savage is now just two wins away from 500 in his career (UCLA & UC Irvine combined).