Long Beach Breezes Past UCLA, 7-3

LONG BEACH — Long Beach State defeated UCLA, 7-3, Tuesday night in a nonconference baseball game in front of 1,045 at Blair Field.

Long Beach (34-19) swept UCLA (38-16-1) in the season series for the first time since 1993. Long Beach also defeated UCLA, 14-3, at UCLA April 8.

Starting pitcher Daryl Grant (2-0) was the winner for Long Beach and closer Ara Petrosian earned his 13th save. Bruin starter Dan Keller (3-4) was the loser.

The 49ers are ranked No. 18 by Baseball America and already have clinched at least a share of the Big West’s Southern Division championship. The Bruins, ranked sixth, trail Stanford in the Pacific 10’s Southern Division.

On Tuesday, Long Beach wrapped up the game in the bottom of the eighth inning by scoring three runs. J.J. Newkirk drove in two runs with a single to give Long Beach a 7-3 lead. He drove in three runs in the game.

Long Beach grabbed the lead in the first when Chuck Lopez drove in two runs on a single. UCLA scored runs in the third and fifth innings to cut Long Beach’s lead to 3-2.

The run in the fifth came when former Canyon High standout Eric Valent hit a solo homer, his 20th, driving in his 75th run. He is second in the Pac-10 in both categories.

Casey Martin’s solo home run in the sixth gave Long Beach a 4-2 lead. The homer was Martin’s sixth of the season, tying him for second on the team.