Oregon baseball rallied to defeat UCLA, and in doing so handed the Bruins their first loss of the season, 9-6.
Collin Clarke started at the hill for Oregon, and initially the game looked like it was going to be a repeat of Friday’s mercy rule loss. Clarke struck out the leadoff hitter before letting a home run get away from him, then walked the next batter.
With two outs on a runner on first, the hope was to just get that last out and get out of the inning. In succession, however, UCLA hit a pair of doubles
and a single to score three and take a 4-0 lead. (Oddly, all three hits went to nearly the same spot in left field).
After being traumatized by Friday’s shellacking, the four runs in the first frame felt an awful lot like déjà vu all over again. Oregon’s bats were going to have to rise to the occasion if the Ducks were going to get a win.
And rise, they did.
The Ducks immediately responded in the top of the second inning. With two runners on base, Gabe Miranda smacked a double to right field to get Oregon on the board.
He was followed by Naulivou Lauaki Jr.’s three run shot over the center field fence, and we had a tied ball game.
UCLA did not score in the bottom of the inning, and one held out hope for a different game trajectory from the Game 1 drubbing.
While the Bruins took a 5-4 lead in the third inning, Clarke settled and delivered through the first part of the fifth inning. Cal Scolari came to the hill and did a nice job of getting out of a little mini-jam,
The sides battled, but plated no one in the fourth, fifth, and sixth inning. Unlike Friday’s game, where the Bruins’ bullpen never entered the field, UCLA trotted out five relievers over the course of the game, and Oregon took them to task. The Ducks opened the seventh inning with a run, and the Bruins answered with a homer to regain the lead, 6-5.
Oregon broke the game open in the top of the next inning, first tying the score on a Maddox Molony double.
Then, with two outs and the bases loaded, Jack Brooks sent the runners home with a double.
Tanner Bradley made that our final score with lockdown pitching, delivering a 1-2-3 punch in the ninth inning to end the game and earn the win.
Naulivou Lauaki Jr. was the battling leader for this game, going 2-4 with 3 RBIs. Jack Brooks also had three ribbies on 1-3 hitting.
The loss handed UCLA their first Big Ten loss since March 2025, and broke the Bruins’ 27-game B1G win streak.
Oregon and UCLA play a pivotal rubber match today, and we’ll see if the Ducks can take a series from the #1 team in the country. The face-off will be at high noon, and can be seen on the Big Ten Network.
