UCLA pulls away from Washington to stay alive at Pac-12 Tournament
Kyle Karros and Michael Curialle combined for nine hits, four doubles, and six RBIs to help lead the 3-seed UCLA Bruins to a 14-8 win over 7-seed Washington Thursday at the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament.
The win keeps UCLA alive for another day. The Bruins (36-21) hit a season-high seven doubles as a team.
The right-handed duo of Karros and Curialle were crucial for the Bruins, accounting for half of the squad’s 18 hits. With a 5-for-5 showing, Karros set a new career-high for hits and matched his career-high for RBIs in a game.
Curialle also matched a career-high for hits in his 4-for-6 performance, adding two RBIs.
Karros has now reached base in each of his first nine plate appearances at the Pac-12 Tournaments.
The Huskies took an early 3-1 lead after the first two frames, but this was a back-and-forth affair through the first five. A three-run fifth for UW tied things at 6-6. From then on, UCLA outscored UW 8-2 to win.
UCLA went ahead for good with a single run in the top of the sixth.
Josh Hahn had the big hit of the seventh, taking an 0-2 pitch down the left-field line for a two-run double. Graduate first baseman Jake Palmer followed that up with a two-RBI single to give the Bruins a four-run frame.
A leadoff double from Curialle opened things up in a three-run eighth, the first in a streak of five consecutive batters reaching base for UCLA.
Right-hander Kelly Austin picked up the win for UCLA in relief, allowing just a single run earned over one and a third innings. Alonzo Tredwell finished off the last three frames to pick up his sixth save of the year.
UW’s Case Matter earned the loss after pitching one and two thirds innings while allowing four hits and two earned.
UCLA returns to action on Friday night in another elimination game to face the loser of Thursday’s Cal-Oregon State game. Washington has been eliminated.