UCLA baseball – Roch Cholowsky hit two homers, but UCLA’s pitching and late scoring push fell short as Sacramento State won 9-6 in the series finale.
LOS ANGELES – The No. 1-ranked UCLA baseball team saw its momentum stall in a 9-6 loss to Sacramento State in the series finale at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Roch Cholowsky delivered a standout offensive day with two home runs. yet the Bruins couldn’t erase a six-run hole by the sixth inning after Sacramento State surged with a decisive five-run third.. For a team sitting at 39-4 entering the weekend. the result was a reminder that even elite lineups can’t fully compensate when pitching allows too much early damage.
Sacramento State struck first in a way that changed the texture of the game.. UCLA had taken the lead in the bottom of the second on a two-out RBI single from Roman Martin’s teammate Kasen Khansarinia. which drove in Payton Brennan after his leadoff walk.. But the Hornets answered quickly. loading the pressure into the third inning by following back-to-back walks with three consecutive hits. including a home run from Jakob Posternak.
That five-run third wasn’t just a scoring swing—it matched the most runs UCLA had surrendered in any single inning this season.. When a team built on routine control and early execution suddenly gives way in multiple at-bats. it creates a deficit that forces every subsequent inning to be played at maximum intensity.. UCLA’s deficit grew from there. with an additional run in the sixth tied to a defensive miscue and then three more in the seventh to put the game out to a six-run advantage.
Cholowsky’s two-homer day wasn’t enough
Cholowsky’s power did give UCLA a pulse.. He sparked a rally in the fourth by sending a line drive over the left-field wall to make it a two-run game. and Brennan’s earlier triple off the center-field wall—followed by an Aiden Aguayo sacrifice fly—helped set the stage for that cut.. His second homer of the day came in the seventh as a towering three-run shot. slicing the deficit in half and setting up a late comeback possibility.
But baseball’s late-inning math can be unforgiving.. UCLA had chances to tighten the game, yet Sacramento State’s cushion held through the final two frames.. UCLA finished with its fourth loss of the season. a number that will likely feel small on paper but larger emotionally for a No.. 1 team trying to protect its status.
For Misryoum readers. the key takeaway is simple: great bats can keep a game alive. but they can’t fully cancel out a mid-game collapse.. The Hornets showed how quickly pressure can compound—walks that extend innings. hits that keep the lineup moving. and timely extra-base power that punishes mistakes.
What the Bruins can learn before the road trip
The Bruins now pivot to a four-game road trip beginning Tuesday, April 28 against UC Santa Barbara. First pitch is scheduled for 4:35 p.m. at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium, with live coverage available on ESPN+.
Road games don’t just test talent; they test rhythm.. UCLA’s next stretch will be an opportunity to reset the pitching plan after Landon Stump (2-1) absorbed the first loss of his season by allowing five runs over 3.0 innings.. The question for the staff is less about whether the Bruins can hit—Cholowsky and others already proved they can—but whether they can reduce the inning-to-inning variance that let Sacramento State break the game open.
The offense still offers comfort. Dean West, Roman Martin, and Kasen Khansarinia each collected two hits, and Mulivai Levu, Will Gasparino, Payton Brennan, and Jarrod Hocking added base hits as well. That mix suggests UCLA’s lineup can respond even when it starts behind.
The next few days will show whether UCLA treats this loss as a brief interruption or a warning sign.. In a season where being No.. 1 also means carrying expectation. the most valuable part of Sunday’s 9-6 defeat may be what it forces the Bruins to fix—especially in the third. when Sacramento State turned a manageable game into a rout-level lead.
For now, Cholowsky’s two-homer highlight will linger. But the scoreboard will linger more: UCLA’s ability to manage innings, limit big clusters of damage, and protect leads—or keep deficits smaller early—will matter most as the road trip begins.