Friday, March 28
West Lafayette, IN
3:00 PM (PT)
UCLA
20-5, 8-2
8
at
5
Purdue
20-5, 3-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
UCLA
0
1
1
0
3
1
0
2
0
8
9
0
Purdue
1
2
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
5
13
0
Cody Delvecchio
Photo by: Purdue Athletics
Three-Homer Effort Powers No. 24 UCLA Past Purdue, 8-5
March 28, 2025 | Baseball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 24-ranked UCLA baseball team marked its first-ever trip to Purdue with an 8-5 Friday night win at Alexander field.
UCLA (20-5, 8-2 Big Ten) surged from behind for the 12th time this season to continue its excellent start to conference play. The Bruins' offensive effort was bolstered by big flies from AJ Salgado, Dean West, and Roman Martin. This was just the second time this season UCLA has mashed three homers in a game.
Martin shifted the momentum in the top of the fifth inning with a powerful three-run home run, giving the Bruins the lead. UCLA maintained its advantage over Purdue (20-5, 3-4 Big Ten) for the remainder of the game after Martin's massive swing. This was Martin's first home run of the season.
West wreaked havoc in the leadoff spot, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two hit-by-pitches to reach base a total of five times in the contest. The Woodland Hills native scored three runs and drove in a pair while hitting his third home run of the campaign.
Salgado went deep for the fifth time while enjoying his first three-hit day of the season. His solo home run tied the game in the second inning, then the outfielder came up with an important two-RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning to give UCLA a three-run cushion.
Cody Delvecchio (1-3) earned his first win of the season after tossing five innings and striking out six batters. The righty allowed four earned runs on seven hits.
The teams exchanged solo home runs in the early stages when Purdue's Albert Choi gave his team an early lead with a solo shot in the bottom of the first, then Salgado answered for UCLA with his opposite-field homer to lead off the second.
The Boilermakers quickly regained their advantage by plating two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. West's solo home run brought the Bruins within one in the top of the third, but Purdue added another run in the fourth, extending their lead back to two.
UCLA took its first lead of the game when Martin turned on a 3-2 offering and blasted it over the left-field wall for a three-run homer in the top of the fifth. This was the first home run of the season for the UCLA third baseman.
West did some more damage in the sixth when he battled in a two-strike count before flipping a two-out base hit into center field to score Payton Brennan from second base.
Purdue pushed a run across in the sixth to cut the deficit to one, then turned to its closer, Avery Cook, with one out in the eighth. The right hander had not allowed a run this season until he ran into the Bruins' offense on Friday night as Salgado came up with a two-out knock to bring a pair of runs home, making it a three-run lead for UCLA.
Wylan Moss toed the rubber to start the eighth inning and fanned two Boilermakers before running into some trouble. With runners on the corners, the freshman came up clutch, punching out the last hitter of the inning to strike out the side and get out of the inning unscathed.
Moss got one more out in the ninth before Purdue placed runners on second and third with one out. Head Coach John Savage handed the ball to his closer, Justin Lee, who stranded both runners after recording a strikeout and a pop-up to clinch the victory and earn his fourth save of the season.
The Bruins return to Alexander Field for the second game of the series tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). The games will be available to watch on B1G+.
UCLA (20-5, 8-2 Big Ten) surged from behind for the 12th time this season to continue its excellent start to conference play. The Bruins' offensive effort was bolstered by big flies from AJ Salgado, Dean West, and Roman Martin. This was just the second time this season UCLA has mashed three homers in a game.
Martin shifted the momentum in the top of the fifth inning with a powerful three-run home run, giving the Bruins the lead. UCLA maintained its advantage over Purdue (20-5, 3-4 Big Ten) for the remainder of the game after Martin's massive swing. This was Martin's first home run of the season.
West wreaked havoc in the leadoff spot, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two hit-by-pitches to reach base a total of five times in the contest. The Woodland Hills native scored three runs and drove in a pair while hitting his third home run of the campaign.
Salgado went deep for the fifth time while enjoying his first three-hit day of the season. His solo home run tied the game in the second inning, then the outfielder came up with an important two-RBI single with two outs in the eighth inning to give UCLA a three-run cushion.
Cody Delvecchio (1-3) earned his first win of the season after tossing five innings and striking out six batters. The righty allowed four earned runs on seven hits.
The teams exchanged solo home runs in the early stages when Purdue's Albert Choi gave his team an early lead with a solo shot in the bottom of the first, then Salgado answered for UCLA with his opposite-field homer to lead off the second.
The Boilermakers quickly regained their advantage by plating two more runs in the bottom of the second inning. West's solo home run brought the Bruins within one in the top of the third, but Purdue added another run in the fourth, extending their lead back to two.
UCLA took its first lead of the game when Martin turned on a 3-2 offering and blasted it over the left-field wall for a three-run homer in the top of the fifth. This was the first home run of the season for the UCLA third baseman.
West did some more damage in the sixth when he battled in a two-strike count before flipping a two-out base hit into center field to score Payton Brennan from second base.
Purdue pushed a run across in the sixth to cut the deficit to one, then turned to its closer, Avery Cook, with one out in the eighth. The right hander had not allowed a run this season until he ran into the Bruins' offense on Friday night as Salgado came up with a two-out knock to bring a pair of runs home, making it a three-run lead for UCLA.
Wylan Moss toed the rubber to start the eighth inning and fanned two Boilermakers before running into some trouble. With runners on the corners, the freshman came up clutch, punching out the last hitter of the inning to strike out the side and get out of the inning unscathed.
Moss got one more out in the ninth before Purdue placed runners on second and third with one out. Head Coach John Savage handed the ball to his closer, Justin Lee, who stranded both runners after recording a strikeout and a pop-up to clinch the victory and earn his fourth save of the season.
The Bruins return to Alexander Field for the second game of the series tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). The games will be available to watch on B1G+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Delvecchio, Cody (1-3)
L: DOORN, Carter (4-2)
S: Lee, Justin (4)
Batting:
HR: West, Dean 1 ; Martin, Roman 1 ; Salgado, AJ 1
RBI: West, Dean 2 ; Martin, Roman 3 ; Salgado, AJ 3
Base Running:
RUNS: West, Dean 3 ; Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Levu, Mulivai 1 ; Martin, Roman 1 ; Salgado, AJ 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1
SB: Brennan, Payton 1
HBP: West, Dean 2 ; Martin, Roman 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1
Batting:
2B: SUTTER, Logan 1 ; SPENCE, Keenan 1 ; ROGERS, Brandon 1
3B: GILL, Ty 1
HR: CHOI, Albert 1
RBI: CHOI, Albert 1 ; ROGERS, Brandon 2 ; GILL, Ty 2
Base Running:
RUNS: CHOI, Albert 1 ; RUSSELL, Houston 1 ; SPENCE, Keenan 1 ; ROGERS, Brandon 2
SB: COOK, Lukas 1
HBP: RUSSELL, Houston 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
AB
6
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF/OF
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