LOS ANGELES,
Calif.-No. 12 UCLA pounded out 23 hits en route to a 20-4 win over
Oral Roberts, Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Golden
Eagles (5-8) took their only lead of the game in the top of the
first inning. Nick Baligod laced a one-out
single and moved to third on a double by Tyler
Saladino. Chris Elder knocked in
Baligod with a grounder to second and ORU led, 1-0.
But the lead
didn't last long. The Bruins (14-0) sent 14 men to the plate in the
bottom of the first against ORU starter Drew Bowen (1-2). Tyler
Rahmatulla's three-run home run highlighted the inning and when the
dust settled, UCLA had a 9-1 lead.
Bowen faced
four batters in the second inning, allowing a solo home run, walk,
single and a hit batter before being replaced by Dan Martony, who got
a double play ball and a ground out to end the inning. But by that
time UCLA led, 11-1.
The Bruins
tacked on five runs in the third against Martony, including a
three-run homer by Dean Espy, as they surged to a 16-1 lead.
UCLA added a
run in the fifth and three more in the second for a 20-1 lead
before the Golden Eagles got on the board again. Justin
Mitchell drilled a run-scoring single in the seventh, and
Saladino belted his team-leading fifth home run of the season in
the eighth to make it a 20-3 ballgame.
Saladino
knocked in ORU's final run with a single in the top of the
ninth.
The Golden
Eagles managed just eight hits against three Bruins pitchers.
Gerritt Cole (5-0), a 2008 first round draft pick, earned the
victory for UCLA after allowing two runs on five hits in seven
innings.
Saladino led
ORU offensively, going 4-for-4 with two RBI. Mitchell also
collected a pair of hits.
Bowen
allowed 11 runs in his inning-plus of work, surrendering 10 hits.
Martony gave up eight runs in five innings. Mike
Torrence was the lone pitching bright spot for ORU, striking
out four batters while tossing two shutout innings of relief.
The Golden
Eagles and Bruins resume their three-game series at 4 p.m.,
Saturday.
--ORU--
