No. 1 UCLA Downs Illinois in Frisco Classic Title Game

FRISCO, Texas — No. 1 UCLA remained undefeated by beating the Illinois baseball team, 14-1, in Sunday's Frisco Classic championship game. The Illini entered the Frisco Classic as the only unranked team and left with a 2-1 record, including ranked wins over No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 23 Oklahoma State.

"Obviously you're disappointed when you lose," said head coach Dan Hartleb. "The frustrating thing today was a lack of fundamentals. This is going to be a great teaching opportunity for us."

Illinois (5-4) held a 1-0 lead after one inning before UCLA (11-0) took control with two runs in the second inning, then 12 runs in the final four frames. Kellen Sarver drove in Illinois' only run with a two-out double over the left fielders head in the first inning to score Taylor Jackson, who led off the game with a walk and stolen base. 

UCLA had 17 hits and went 9-for-17 with runners in scoring position. Former first round pick Matt McClain led the Bruins with four hits and four RBIs, while projected first round pick Garrett Mitchell had two hits, three runs, and four RBIs. Mikey Perez scored five runs out of the No. 8-hole. 

"UCLA moved runners all the time, we didn't move runners at all," said Hartleb. "They're a good hitting team and to neutralize that, you have to get ahead in the count. We didn't do that."

Aidan Maldonado (0-2) kept Illinois in the game by allowing two runs through the first four innings before UCLA started to rally. He took the loss after allowing six runs in 4 1/3 innings pitched. 

Illinois will regroup for its home opener on Tuesday against Chicago State at Illinois Field. The Illini travel to Elon for a three-game series next weekend.

Notes

• Illinois snapped a four-game winning streak. 
• Illinois is 6-3 in its last nine games against ranked teams dating back to last season.
• Illinois is 3-4 against No. 1 ranked opponents since 1995. 
• Illinois is 2-2 all-time against UCLA. 
• Branden Comia is on a six-game hitting streak and a career-long 14-game reached base streak. 
• Taylor Jackson snapped an eight-game hitting streak.
• Alex Steinbach snapped a five-game hitting streak.
• Frisco Classic opponents' rankings...
     » Texas A&M - #13 (NCBWA), #15 (Collegiate Baseball), #18 (D1Baseball), #18 (Perfect Game)
     » Oklahoma State - #23 (Baseball America), #24 (Perfect Game), #28 (NCBWA), #28 (Collegiate Baseball)
     » UCLA - #1 (Collegiate Baseball), #7 (NCBWA), #7 (Perfect Game), #10 (D1Baseball), #11 (Baseball America)

All-Tournament Team

INF: Matt McLain, UCLA 
INF: Mikey Perez, UCLA 
INF: Branden Comia, Illinois 
INF: Hueston Morrill, Oklahoma State 
OF: Garrett Mitchell, UCLA 
OF: Pat Caulfield, UCLA 
OF: Kyle Cuellar, UCLA 
C: Jacob Campbell, Illinois 
P: Asa Lacy, Texas A&M 
DH: Jarron Silva, UCLA 

MVP: Matt McLain, UCLA