SALT LAKE CITY – A late rally by UCLA doomed the Utah baseball team on Saturday afternoon, falling to the 17th-ranked Bruins, 6-3.
Utah led 3-2 before UCLA tied the game with a run in the eighth and took the lead with three runs in the top of the ninth.
Oliver Dunn went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, including a home run, and two RBI to lead Utah at the plate.
Tanner Thomas pitched five innings for the Utes, allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts and six walks. Justin Kelly allowed one run on two hits with two walks while Trenton Stoltz surrendered three runs on four hits with three walks and a strikeout in the loss.
Utah took a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run from Dunn. UCLA quickly replied in the second inning, scoring two runs on four hits to take a 2-1 lead before Utah got out of the inning with UCLA leaving the bases loaded.
The Utes came back to re-take the lead in the third inning. Matt Richardson reached on an error and scored on an RBI double from Dunn that was just fair, landing on the chalk line. Rykker Tom drove in Dunn to give the Utes a 3-2 lead.
UCLA left runners on base in several innings as the game continued before breaking through to tie it at 3-3 with a run on two hits and a walk in the top of the eighth. The Bruins took the lead in the top of the ninth with three runs on three hits.
Davis Delorefice led off the ninth with an infield single for Utah but three-straight fly outs clinched the win for UCLA.
Utah and UCLA close out the series on Sunday, April 15, at 1:00 p.m. at Smith’s Ballpark.
