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UCLA baseball and softball sweep their home openers

By Mike Regalado

8 Apr 1998: General view of a bat and glove that belong to Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals during a game against the Colorado Rockies at the Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 13-9. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
8 Apr 1998: General view of a bat and glove that belong to Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals during a game against the Colorado Rockies at the Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 13-9. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport /
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In their first weekend in Westwood, both the UCLA baseball and softball teams showed their dominance with seven total wins between them as they start the season out undefeated.

It was quite the weekend for bat and ball with the blue and gold as the UCLA baseball and UCLA softball teams put on shows and swept their weekend opponents.

RELATED: UCLA Baseball 2019 Preview

This was opening weekend for the UCLA baseball team who started their season with a three-game series against St. John’s at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins’ first game on Friday was in danger of being rained out due to off and on showers in the Los Angeles area, but after an hour delay, UCLA got their series and season started.

The Bruins had some trouble with St. John’s in that first game, but ultimately managed to pull out the 3-2 win with pitcher Jack Filby getting the “W”. Things got easier for UCLA over the weekend as the Bruin bats came out in full swing.

On Saturday, UCLA had eight batters get 10 hits, leading to a 9-0 blanking of the Red Storm. It was quite the offensive assault which was balanced out by pitcher Jack Ralston getting the win with seven strikeouts and only allowing three hits.

The domination continued on Sunday when the Bruins completed the sweep and got the 11-1 win over St. John’s. Freshman Jesse Bergin made his collegiate debut as he only allowed two hits and struck out nine.

After starting their season a week ago, going 5-0 in the Hawaii Paradise Classic, the UCLA softball team came back to LA to host the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament at Easton Stadium. Unfortunately, the Bruins were caught in the Friday rain, causing their games against Cal Poly and Boise State to be canceled.

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Once the rain cleared on Saturday, UCLA was able to get back to their winning ways as they took down Ole Miss 4-0 and Fresno State 8-0, which ended in five innings.

Things got turned up a notch on Sunday when the Bruins took on UC Riverside. UCLA scored a record 16 runs in the first inning which was backed by homers from Bubba Nickles, Jordan Aaliyah, and Rachel Garcia. The Bruins eventually won, 17-3 and was called after five innings.

UCLA had one final game and took it easy on LMU as they got the 3-1 victory. In that game, Rachel Gracia got back to the mound and only allowed four hits and struck out 14 to get her fourth win of the season.

UCLA baseball’s next game is on Tuesday against LMU which is followed up by three-game series at Georgia Tech starting on Friday. The UCLA softball team returns to action on Thursday as they are set to begin the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, CA.