UCLA took off to a quick 2-0 lead to put TCU in the losers bracket to face Florida State again. SB Nation's UCLA blog talks how UCLA used their fast start to win:
As the designated home team, UCLA took the field to start the game and Cole was dominant from the early going as he struck out the first three batters of the ballgame. Amaral started the home half of the first inning and reached on a walk, then took second on a hit and run ground out. While the freshmen led the way in the game, a redshirt senior got in on the action as well when Blair Dunlap hit a ground ball that squirted past the TCU second baseman for a RBI single.
Singles in the second inning by Dean Espy and Chris Giovinazzo put a runner in scoring position for the Bruins with two outs. Amaral stepped to the plate and without hesitation, hit the first pitch he saw right back up the middle for a clean single, scoring Espy for a 2-0 Bruin edge.
The offensive burst was a surprise bonus for the Bruins who have been just average on offense all year, but they got some help with the long ball:
Cody Regis got a high fastball and the left-hander sent it the other way to left center field for a two-run home run. That home run stretched the UCLA lead to 4-0 and then when Jeff Gelalich turned on one and hit it into the right center field stands for a solo home run later in the inning, the Bruins had a 5-0 lead
TCU was never able to recover from that five run hole, but they were close as they closed the gap to 6-3, but the dominant pitching by Grrit Cole managed eight innings of five hit, three run ball with 13 strike outs to pick up his 11th win of the year. The loan player for TCU to show up was Taylor Featherton who hit a three RBI tripple which is what brought TCU back into this game.
TCU now gets a rematch against Florida State who they beat 8-1 in a winner moves on and the loser goes home. The game will be Wednesday on ESPN2 at 7pm eastern time.
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