LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Mavericks officially began their 2023 season with a 16-1 loss to No. 17 UCLA Friday night in Los Angeles.

The Mavericks (0-1) are now 3-4 on Opening Day under Head Coach Evan Porter, while the Bruins (1-0) improve to 13-8 on Opening Day in the John Savage era.

Innings 1-3
The Mavericks had a prime opportunity to score in the first inning after Mike Boeve belted a one-out double, but UCLA starter Jake Brooks came out unscathed after striking out the next two batters.

Caleb Riedel also was locked in on the mound, starting his day with back-to-back strikeouts. Though he ran into some trouble in the second after two Bruins reached on an error and a walk, Riedel got out of the jam by blowing away the next batter on a high fastball. He continued to deal in the bottom of the third, inducing a quick groundout to third and striking out his fifth batter, before pitching around another error to keep UCLA off the board. 

Innings 4-6
The pitchers duel continued into the fourth as Brooks picked up his seventh strikeout in a scoreless top of the inning. At first, it looked like Riedel would follow suit, setting down two straight after the Mavericks committed their fourth error in as many innings. Unfortunately, after back-to-back walks loaded the bases to end Riedel's day, Alex Potter came in and gave up a bases-clearing double to give UCLA a 3-0 lead.

The Mavericks immediately responded in the top of the fifth with three straight hits from Drew Lechnir, Devin Hurdle, and Haiden Hunt to open the inning. Hunt did the honors with a line drive through the left side, earning his first career RBI as a Maverick. The Bruins would come right back, though, and score two more in the bottom of the inning. Later, in the bottom of the sixth, Eduardo Rosario caught his first base stealer of the season to help Potter get through a scoreless inning.

Innings 7-9
The Bruins tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh and threatened to add at least two more, but Hunt got a perfect jump and made an amazing grab near the warning track to end the inning. However, UCLA would end up adding 10 more runs in the bottom of the eighth to blow the game wide open and go on to secure an Opening Day win.

Inside the Box Score
Riedel got six of his 11 outs tonight via the strikeout and maintains a 0.00 ERA to start the season due to the runs he allowed being unearned.

Hunt (2-for-4), Hurdle (2-for-3), and Zach Lechnir (2-for-3) all recorded two hits tonight, with Lechnir reaching base a team-high three times thanks to a fourth-inning walk.

Up Next
The Mavericks will continue their series with the Bruins tomorrow at 4 p.m. as Charlie Bell and Alonzo Treadwell are set to be the probable starting pitchers.