Box Score

LOS ANGELES-The Gonzaga University baseball team saw tough pitching from its UCLA foe Saturday, falling 6-1 during the middle game of a three-game slate at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.

UCLA pitching again stifled Gonzaga's offense for much of the game. Bruins starter Jake Bird turned in a scoreless 6.0 innings, striking out seven batters and retiring 12 in a row at one point. In that fifth inning, Justin Jacobs led off with a first-pitch single, and Jake Vieth ripped another base knock to right field, giving the Zags two on with one out. Catcher Jake Roberts squared up on the first pitch he saw, but he hit the ball right at UCLA third baseman Ryan Kreidler for a line out. A fly out ended the rally, which was the Zags' best scoring opportunity off Bird. The UCLA righty allowed one hit in the sixth and walked his one batter faced in the seventh.

After Bird left the game, relievers Matt Walker, Scott Burke, and Moises Ceja combined to hold the Zags to four hits and one run. That run came in the ninth inning when pinch hitter Daniel Fredrickson knocked a one-out single for his first hit as a Bulldog. Vieth drove a double off the outfield wall to put Fredrickson on third base, and the Woodinville, Wash., native scored on a passed ball.

Gonzaga starter Justin Vernia, meanwhile, worked into the fourth inning. He gave up three runs, all three of which came on home runs. In the first inning, UCLA first baseman Sean Bouchard drove the first ball he saw out to center field for a two-run blast, and second baseman Chase Strumpf led off the fourth with a solo four-bagger. Vernia allowed six other hits on the day, but he stranded four runners on base and exited the game with one on in the fourth, whom Mac Lardner left out there after closing out the frame.

The home team picked up another two runs in the sixth on another two-run homer from Bouchard and one more in the eighth on an RBI single from Daniel Amaral.

Bird claimed the win for UCLA as the Bruins advanced to 3-2 on the year. Vernia suffered his first loss of 2017 for the Zags, who fell back to .500 at 3-3.

Bulldog Bites:

• Vieth saw his first three-hit game at the Division I level, smacking two singles to go along with his ninth-inning double. He joins Sam Brown and Jeff Bohling as Bulldogs with three-hit games this year. He's also tied with four others on the team with two multi-hit games.
• Fredrickson picked up his first hit as a Zag one day after making his GU debut. Fredrickson entered the Zags' 2-1 extra-innings win Feb. 24 as a defensive replacement and later registered a sacrifice bunt. Also, fresh off his heroics in that win over the Bruins, freshman Troy Johnston earned his first career start in left field on Saturday.
• Lardner made his second outing of the year and of his freshman campaign. The Templeton, Calif., native pitched 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and three walks. By stranding his one inherited runner in the fourth inning, he continued the Gonzaga bullpen's perfection in leaving inherited runners on base this season.

Mac Talk: Thoughts from Gonzaga head coach Mark Machtolf

"Bird did a great job of mixing all of his pitches and pounding the zone. We did not show great fight at the plate in the early innings, which was disappointing, but we did compete better late in the game. It was too little, too late against a good team."

Next Up:

The Zags and Bruins will wrap up the series on Sunday, Feb. 26. Freshman RHP Casey Legumina will make his collegiate debut for the Zags while the Bruins turn to right hander Jon Olsen. First pitch for the rubber match is slated for 1:00 p.m.