Arizona State baseball coach Tracy Smith was only half joking about his preference that only one McLain brother play this weekend.
Both, though, were on the field at Phoenix Municipal Stadium Thursday night as UCLA’s Matt McLain returned from a thumb injury to play for the first time since since May 2.
Bruins hitting leader JT Schwartz also was back from injury in the lineup, and both contributed to a 21-9 domination over No. 23 ASU in the series opener.
The game was a disaster from the outset for ASU (32-18, 16-12 Pac-12).
UCLA put up four first-inning runs against starting pitcher Tyler Thornton (2-4), three on a Kyle Cuellar homer to right center.