Game #10: No. 1 UCLA 11, No. 23 Texas A&M 1 (7 innings)
Records: Texas A&M (9-1, 0-0), UCLA (8-2, 0-0)
WP: Michael Barnett (3-0)
LP: Weston Moss (1-1)
Box Score
ARLINGTON, Texas — There’s a reason you don’t play with matches.
Likewise, you shouldn’t play in traffic.
On Saturday night in Arlington, Texas A&M pitching played with traffic and often got burned.
Top-ranked UCLA educated the No. 23 Aggies in those very dangers in an 11-1 splattering in seven innings at Globe Life Field in the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series.
“I never want to get my ass kicked,” a frustrated Michael Earley said postgame. “You got a choice to make. You can see an example of how it is and go back and see how you played compared to how they played, but in the end, you got to play better baseball.
“You either win or you lose. We lost. It’s never acceptable to lose like that.”
In A&M’s first defeat of the year, the Bruins had men on base in every inning. They outhit the Aggies 14-2 with every Bruin registering at least one hit.
They battled with two strikes. They battled with two outs.
As a result, the Aggies were bloodied early and often.
“They were relentless up there,” A&M's skipper said of the Bruins. “Moving balls with two strikes. They played an awesome game. They completely outplayed us on that end and made us make plays. When they got balls to hit, they hammered them.”
Right-handed starter Weston Moss allowed the first four men he faced to reach on three singles and a walk. Each of them scored.
UCLA tagged Moss for two more in the second as his abbreviated night saw him surrender six runs on six hits while walking three, as his ERA ballooned to 6.92.
“Weston, strikes were fine,” Earley said. “The other two guys threw strikes, but at the same time, (UCLA) did what they were supposed to, and they played really well.”
Behind him, Gavin Lyons allowed one run in three innings before Cole Hubert coughed up four in the sixth, three of which came via Will Gasparino’s knock-out blow of a home run.
While Aggie pitching learned what it’s like to face a relentless offense, the A&M bats were loud but quiet at the same time.
“Yes, they hit some balls hard, but I think we got two hits,” Earley lamented. “That’s just not what we want to be.
“It doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter. You hit it hard. You don’t hit it hard. You either get on base, or you don’t, and they did that a lot more than us today.”
Frequent exit velocities over 100 mph rarely resulted in anything tangible.
Jake Duer hit a leadoff home run in the second. Gavin Grahovac singled in the sixth.
That was all the Aggie offense could muster.
Beyond that, UCLA’s Michael Barnett and Wylan Moss combined to walk three and hit another to keep A&M in check.
Now the 12th Man must wonder, among other things, about how these Aggies will respond to being run over.
Despite Saturday’s beatdown, Earley has confidence in his club.
“We’re going to be better,” he said. “We’re gonna bounce back tomorrow. We’re gonna give a good effort tomorrow. We’re going to come out and play our game.”
A&M concludes its stay in Arlington on Sunday vs. Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. CT.
