College World Series: UCLA eliminated by Arkansas to end long day ...Middle East

OMAHA, Neb. — A doubleheader spelled double trouble for the UCLA baseball team’s stay at the College World Series.

The 15th-ranked Bruins lost two games against Southeastern Conference teams in the span of 12 hours on Tuesday, ending their season rather abruptly after six straight postseason wins.

UCLA dropped a pair – first 9-5 in the completion of Monday’s suspended game against sixth-ranked LSU, then a 7-3 loss to No. 3 Arkansas in an evening elimination game at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

The losses bounced the Bruins (48-18) from their first CWS since 2013.

After scoring three runs in the first inning on Monday night against LSU, UCLA scored in just two of 13 frames the next day.

The Tigers (50-15) got stellar pitching Tuesday morning from freshman Casan Evans and did enough at the plate to advance into Wednesday’s Bracket 2 final.

Star shortstop Wehiwa Aloy then drove in three for the Razorbacks (50-14) in the nightcap, two coming on a first-inning home run.

That looked like it might be all the offense that was needed for an Arkansas staff that ran its scoreless streak to 18 innings before UCLA scored three runs in the ninth.

Arkansas will meet LSU again – the two squared off in Saturday’s opener – on Wednesday at 4 p.m. PDT. Arkansas will need to beat the Tigers twice in two days to advance to the best-of-three championship series.

With their backs against the wall for the first time this postseason, the Bruins were aggressive from the start. Dean West and Roch Cholowsky both singled to open the game and moved into scoring position on a long flyout.

Roman Martin walked to load the bases, but AJ Salgado lined out to shortstop and West was caught trying as straight steal of home, a play that was reviewed and confirmed by the narrowest of margins.

After ducking that early shot, Arkansas threw a roundhouse of its own with a couple of quick runs in its half of the frame.

Leadoff hitter Charles Davalan greeted UCLA starter Cody Delvecchio, who was making his first appearance since the end of March, with a quick single. Aloy, the SEC Player of the Year, then belted a 377-foot, opposite-field home run into the bullpen in right – his 21st homer of the season.

With the lead in hand, starter Zach Root (9-6) then settled in. The junior left-hander retired the next six in a row – including four straight strikeouts at one point in that stretch – and faced the minimum through the next four innings.

He got into trouble in the fifth when Payton Brennan singled to open the frame and Phoenix Call later walked. But West was called out on strikes to end that threat.

Root covered the first five innings, striking out five and giving up just three hits on 87 pitches, just three days after being pulled in the second inning of Arkansas’ loss to LSU.

Aiden Jimenez followed Root with three shutout innings of his own to make it 18 straight zeroes that Razorback pitchers put up, a span that included Monday’s historic no-hitter by Gage Wood.

Logan Maxwell gave the Hogs some breathing room in the seventh, driving in a pair on a double to left. They tacked on two more in the eighth – one on a wild pitch that scored Cam Kozeal, and another via a Justin Thomas Jr. double to left.

UCLA capitalized on uncharacteristic blunders to break through against Will McEntire in the ninth. Mulivai Levu tripled leading off and scored when third baseman Brent Ireland couldn’t come up with a grounder. McEntire’s wild throw to first on a comebacker and a wild pitch brought in two more runs, before McEntire shut the door to keep the Hogs alive.

Delvecchio went four respectable innings in his first appearance back after missing more than two months while academically ineligible.

The junior right-hander struck out three and limited the damage from seven Arkansas hits. He was charged with three earned runs, the last of which came when Aloy tripled to center against reliever Ian May.

UCLA used eight pitchers in all against LSU, tying a CWS record. Seven Bruins pitched against Arkansas in the night game.

In the early game …

LSU 9, UCLA 5: Leading 5-3 after three complete innings and a lengthy weather delay on Monday night, the Tigers jumped on UCLA reliever Wylan Moss in their first cracks Tuesday, tallying a pair of runs with two outs in the fourth.

Derek Curiel singled to left and Ethan Frey walked before back-to-back RBI singles from Steven Milam and Jake Brown extended the lead.

A Daniel Dickinson blooper to right drove in another for the Tigers in the seventh.

They got 4⅓ innings of steady pitching from Evans. The right-hander out of Houston struck out five and scatted four hits to earn his fifth win of the season.

Evans, who had three starts this season, threw 68 pitches just three days after closing out Saturday’s 4-1 opening-round win over Arkansas with a scoreless ninth inning for his team-leading seventh save of the year.

UCLA eventually chased Evans with two on in the eighth via a Mulivai Levu one-out single and a Roman Martin hit by pitch. Freshman lefty Cooper Williams replaced Evans and added to the troubles with a walk of AJ Salgado.

Two ground balls to second – first an RBI groundout by Payton Brennan, then a Blake Balsz infield hit – produced a pair of runs. After Cashel Dugger walked to again load the bases – with the sophomore representing the tying run – LSU went back to its bullpen in the form of 6-foot-8, 252-pound sophomore Chase Shores.

The big right-hander needed just one pitch to get his team out of the jam, getting No. 9 hitter Phoenix Call on a groundout to short.

Jared Jones, who had a three-run home run in the first inning on Monday, tacked on an insurance run with a two-out single to center against UCLA closer Easton Hawk in the bottom of the eighth.

LSU was 7 for 15 in the game with two outs.

Shores had a clean ninth with three groundouts for the save.

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