UCLA gets off to fast start, holds off upstart Murray State 6-4 in College World Series opener
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Roman Martin and AJ Salgado drove in two runs apiece to lead UCLA to a 6-4 victory over a Murray State team making its College World Series debut Saturday.
The Bruins, in the CWS for the first time since they won the championship in 2013, built a 6-0 lead before the Racers began chipping away at it in the middle innings. UCLA closer Easton Hawk pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to secure the Bruins' fourth straight win in an Omaha opener.
UCLA (48-16) will play Monday night against the winner of Saturday night's game between No. 3 national seed Arkansas and No. 6 LSU.
The Missouri Valley Conference's Racers (44-16), only the fourth No. 4 regional seed since 1999 to advance to the CWS, will try to keep their first appearance going when they play Arkansas or LSU in an elimination game on Monday.
Ian May (8-3), the second of five relievers who followed starter Michael Barnett, pitched an inning to earn the win.
The Bruins were in full control early and improved to 27-1 when scoring first. They loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning against Nic Schutte (8-5). He gave up a hit and issued three walks before he settled down and got back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout to keep it 1-0.
Dean West singled in another run in the second, and the Bruins added four more in the fourth on a safety squeeze bunt, base hit and Salgado's two-run double.
Murray State ended the UCLA pitching staff's streak of 20 2/3 scoreless innings when a sliding Jonathan Hogart beat Salgado's throw to the plate on Carson Garner's drive into right field in the fifth. Before that, the Bruins hadn't allowed a run since the second inning of their super regional opener against UTSA.
The Racers added a run in the sixth and two more in the eighth after putting runners on second and third with no outs. Consecutive RBI groundouts pulled them within 6-4.
Hawk went to the mound in the ninth with a two-run lead and facing the heart of the Racers' order. He struck out Dustin Mercer, got Garner to ground out and fanned Dominic Decker to earn his eighth save.
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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
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