No. 1 UCLA lost to Sacramento State, 9-6, on Sunday after the Hornets’ five-run third inning flipped the game and handed the Bruins a loss that ended their eight-game home stand.
Roch Cholowsky hit two home runs and drove in four runs, but UCLA could not overcome the damage done in the third, when Landon Stump walked three batters and Jakob Poturnak followed with a two-run homer. UCLA scored first and later got a sacrifice fly from Aiden Aguayo in the fourth, then Cholowsky launched his 16th home run of the season in the next inning. But Sacramento State kept adding on. Roman Martin’s error in the sixth let Jace Jeremiah reach base, Ryan Ellis reached on a bunt thrown away from third, and Justin Lee allowed two RBI singles that pushed the lead to 9-3, the Bruins’ largest deficit of the season. Cholowsky answered with a three-run homer in the next at-bat to pull UCLA within 9-6, but Trevor Wilson shut the Bruins down over the next two innings. UCLA finished with nine runs allowed, eight hits and three errors. Sacramento State, which had never beaten a No. 1-ranked opponent before, claimed its first such win while UCLA missed a chance at its 40th victory and a 10th straight series sweep.
The loss came one day before UCLA was scheduled to begin a five-game road trip Tuesday at UC Santa Barbara, where the teams were set to play at 4:35 p.m. PST. UCLA was 0-1 against the Gauchos this season after a 4-0 loss on April 14, and the matchup came with UC Santa Barbara leading Division I baseball with a 3.02 ERA and UCLA ranking second at 3.11. The Bruins had spent the weekend trying to extend a run that had kept them atop the rankings in the same way Ucla basketball and other national contenders are judged in the spring, but Sunday left them with a reminder that even the No. 1 team can be caught when an inning gets away.