The No. 1 UCLA Bruins walked off due to an infield error to defeat the Sacramento State Hornets 6-5, Friday night.
UCLA had their backs against the wall following Sacramento State's three-consecutive innings of scoring that gave them a 5-3 lead going into the eighth inning. But late-game heroics from Mulivai Levu and Roman Martin were enough to steal a victory in game one of the weekend series.
In the bottom of the eighth, Levu drove an inside pitch toward the right field corner and off of the foul pole for a home run. His 11th home run of the season put UCLA behind one run to start the inning.
But the Bruins ran into trouble in the top of the ninth, after two consecutive Hornets were hit by pitches from left-hander Ian May. A pitching change brought UCLA junior Justin Lee to the mound with one out and two runners on base. Lee secured a strikeout and fly out to send the game into the bottom of the ninth.
Pinch hitter Aiden Aguayo snuck a leadoff single up the middle to start the ninth, followed by a sacrifice-bunt by Phoenix Call to move the game-tying run to second. Next at bat, Dean West grounded out to short stop and moved Aguayo to third.
With two outs, projected number one pick in the upcoming MLB 2026 draft Roch Cholowsky took the plate. Sacramento State pitcher Elijah Rogalski walked Cholowsky on five pitches. Levu stepped to the plate again and was also walked to load the bases for Martin.
With an 0-2 count, Martin poked an inside pitch between Sacramento State's first and second basemen. The ball ricocheted off the glove of first baseman Luis Pimentel-Guerrero to allow Aguayo to score. Second baseman Cameron Sewell recovered the ball and fired to home plate, but the wild ball shot toward the back stop and pulled catcher Nikhil Beasley away from home. Cholowsky rounded third base and safely scored the game-winning run, prompting Bruins players to flood onto the field and parade around Martin all of the way into the center field wall.
The narrow victory makes it the fifth straight win for UCLA and the first of the three-game series against Sacramento State. UCLA improved their record to 38-3 on the season, as Sacramento State's record dropped to 19-24.
Game two of the series will start at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.