UCLA
43-16
Fresno State
31-28
UCLA Beats Fresno State 19-4 in Regional Opener
May 30, 2025 | Baseball
Roman Martin went 4 for 6, scoring three runs and driving in three more for the Bruins. Blake Balsz, Payton Brennan, Phoenix Call and Mulivai Levu all had three-hit games, while Roch Cholowsky and AJ Salgado posted two each. The team's 22 hits were a season high. Brennan, Martin and Cashel Dugger each homered. Levu drove in five runs, while Brennan plated four. All nine starters scored.
"At the end of the day, at this time of the year, you win in any way that you can," said Head Coach John Savage. "Certainly, we did that today. It was a good win, the score doesn't really dictate the whole game, but at the end of the day, you move on. We're happy about that."
UCLA (43-16) has advanced to face Arizona State (36-22) on Saturday at 6 p.m. (PT).
Arizona State defeated UC Irvine, 4-2, on Friday evening to move into Saturday evening's game. UC Irvine (41-16) will take on UC Irvine at 12 p.m. (PT) on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Chris Grothues (2-1) picked up the win in relief of Michael Barnett, who gave up two earned runs on six hits in 4.1 innings. Jack Anker (9-5) took the loss, surrendering six earned runs on 10 hits in five innings. Bobby Blandford and Griffen Sotomayor logged two hits each for the Bulldogs, who got homers from Blandford and Eddie Saldivar.
Eight Bruins batted in the first inning and four of them came around to score. Leadoff man Dean West was hit by a pitch for the first of three times and made it home on Martin's one-out single. A Salgado groundout cashed in Levu's single and Brennan and Balsz added run-scoring hits.
Fresno State got on the board in the third, as a sacrifice fly by Griffen Sotomayor scored Cam Schneider. Schneider led off the inning with a single before moving over on a wild pitch and a groundout.
UCLA answered the Bulldogs' third-inning run with two of its own. Martin's second hit of the day carried over the left-field fence for his eighth home run. Salgado followed with a double and reached third on a groundout before Balsz singled him in.
Fresno State capitalized on a leadoff double by Blandford in the fourth, with Justin Stransky's groundout bringing the run home following a wild pitch.
The Bruins broke the game open in the seventh, sending 10 to the plate and doubling their scoring output. Singles by Martin and Salgado got things started. Martin scored on a Brennan groundout and Balsz singled once more. Call and West added RBIs before Levu hit a bases-clearing double to left.
Saldivar and Blandford homered for the Bulldogs in the eighth, but UCLA would bat around again in the bottom half. Brennan smashed a two-run home run over the batter's eye and Dugger added a solo shot. Levu and Martin registered two more run-scoring hits and Aidan Espinoza's groundout made it 19-4.
ย
That ball is DESTROYED??#GoBruins // ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/lekoBMQv6q
โ UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) May 30, 2025
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grothues, Chris (2-1)
L: ANKER, Jack (9-5)
Batting:
2B: BLANDFORD, Bobby 1
HR: SALDIVAR, Eddie 1 ; BLANDFORD, Bobby 1
RBI: SOTOMAYOR, Griffen 1 ; SALDIVAR, Eddie 1 ; BLANDFORD, Bobby 1 ; STRANSKY, Justin 1
SH: SALDIVAR, Eddie 1
SF: SOTOMAYOR, Griffen 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SALDIVAR, Eddie 1 ; BLANDFORD, Bobby 2 ; SCHNEIDER, Cam 1
Batting:
2B: Levu, Mulivai 1 ; Martin, Roman 1 ; Salgado, AJ 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1
HR: Martin, Roman 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1
RBI: West, Dean 1 ; Levu, Mulivai 5 ; Martin, Roman 3 ; Salgado, AJ 1 ; Espinoza, Aidan 1 ; Brennan, Payton 4 ; Balsz, Blake 2 ; Dugger, Cashel 1 ; Call, Phoenix 1
SH: Dugger, Cashel 1
SF: Brennan, Payton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: West, Dean 2 ; Bythewood, Toussaint 1 ; Cholowsky, Roch 1 ; Levu, Mulivai 2 ; Martin, Roman 3 ; Salgado, AJ 3 ; Brennan, Payton 2 ; Balsz, Blake 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 2 ; Call, Phoenix 2
CS: Call, Phoenix 1
HBP: West, Dean 3 ; Cholowsky, Roch 1
