UCLA
37-15, 20-8
Northwestern
25-25, 13-15
Bruins Drop Series Opener to Northwestern, 9-4
May 15, 2025 | Baseball
UCLA (37-15, 20-8 Big Ten) sits one game behind Iowa in the conference race with two games remaining. The Bruins now share second place with Oregon are both teams are now tied at 20-8 in league play.
Three Bruins enjoyed multi-hit days at the plate. Roch Cholowsky blasted his 19th home run of the season in his 2-for-4 performance while Dean West and Roman Martin collected two hits apiece.
Ryan Kucherak was the catalyst for the Wildcats' offense, hitting a pair of homers in his 3-for-4 day.
Northwestern took an early lead when Kucherak's two-run homer opened the scoring in the top of the first.
In the top of the third, Kucherak and Bennett Markinson hit back-to-back homers to double the Wildcats' lead and chase starting pitcher Ian May out of the contest after just 2.1 innings.
UCLA got a run back in the bottom of the fourth when Payton Brennan ripped an RBI double off the wall in left-center field to score Martin from first base.
Northwestern used yet another big fly to add to its lead in the seventh when Jack Lausch smacked a two-run shot on Ryan Rissas' first pitch of his outing.
Jack Lausch greeted reliever Ryan Rissas with a first-pitch, two-run blast, extending Northwestern's advantage in the seventh.
Drama unfolded in the bottom of the seventh when Cholowsky crushed a first-pitch breaking ball over the left-center wall for what appeared to be a grand slam. The celebration was tempered when officials ruled a runner had passed another on the base paths, turning the blast into a three-run homer that brought UCLA within two.
Northwestern put the game away in the ninth by rallying for three runs, all with two outs, to take a five-run cushion into the bottom half.
UCLA will take on Northwestern in the middle game of the series tomorrow at 7 p.m. PT. Michael Barnett is scheduled to get the start on the mound for UCLA. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: HLIBOKI, SAM (4-3)
L: May, Ian (6-3)
S: WADE, CRAWFORD (6)
Batting:
2B: KUCHERAK, RYAN 1 ; KNOTT, PRESTON 1
HR: KUCHERAK, RYAN 2 ; MARKINSON, BENNETT 1 ; LAUSCH, JACK 1
RBI: KUCHERAK, RYAN 3 ; MARKINSON, BENNETT 1 ; LAUSCH, JACK 2 ; HAND, JACOB 1 ; KAPLAN, MARTY 1
SH: HAND, JACOB 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MCELFATRICK, OWEN 1 ; KUCHERAK, RYAN 3 ; MARKINSON, BENNETT 2 ; LAUSCH, JACK 1 ; KNOTT, PRESTON 1 ; GANUS, TYLER 1
SB: GANUS, TYLER 1
CS: KUCHERAK, RYAN 1
HBP: MARKINSON, BENNETT 1 ; HAND, JACOB 1
PO: KUCHERAK, RYAN 1
Batting:
2B: Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Salgado, AJ 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1
HR: Cholowsky, Roch 1
RBI: Cholowsky, Roch 3 ; Brennan, Payton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Martin, Roman 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1 ; Call, Phoenix 1
HBP: Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Martin, Roman 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1 ; Call, Phoenix 2
