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UCLA pitcher Brant Rustich pitched 2-1/3 innings of scoreless relief on Tuesday night, helping th

Execution has been an issue for the UCLA baseball team all year, but Tuesday the Bruins did what they’ve been unable to do many times this season.

With pitching and defense providing the backbone and Brett McMillan supplying the muscle, the Bruins (9-28) took home a rare 3-1 victory over UC Irvine at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

McMillan’s sixth-inning two-run blast just over the right field fence broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Bruins their second win in their last 26 games.

“It was a fastball that got up a little bit,” said McMillan of his team-leading sixth home run. “I didn’t think it was out at first because of the topspin. I was just hoping that it would go over the outfielder’s head.”

The victory had added significance for coach John Savage, who was facing a team he had led for three seasons before supplanting Gary Adams this season at UCLA.

“It was a special game knowing all those players and knowing that you started a program with many of them,” he said. “There was a different feeling, being as close as I was to them.”

And fittingly, as Savage’s specialty is pitching, the game was a pitcher’s duel.

For the Bruins, Adam Simon started and gave up a lone run in the opening frame in going five innings.

Brant Rustich relieved Simon in the sixth and tossed 2-1/3 shut out innings for the win, striking out a pair.

But Rustich ran into some trouble with one out in the eighth and was relieved by Brian Schroeder with runners at first and second.

Schroeder loaded the bases on four pitches and Savage brought in Hector Ambriz, who went on to seal the deal.

Ambriz struck out the first hitter he saw en route to shutting the door on the Anteaters and picking up his first save of the year.

“The biggest difference was aggressiveness,” Savage said. “I saw guys getting ahead. I saw guys getting in good leverage counts. Pitching is disrupting timing and getting ahead of people. And when you do that, I think you’ll see good results because we have good enough stuff.”

After committing 12 errors over the weekend, the Bruins only had one mishap Tuesday.

And in the fifth, the Bruins got on the board with a classic case of manufacturing a run.

Tommy Lansdon led off with a walk. Chris Denove followed with a perfect hit-and-run into the spot vacated by the shortstop, leaving runners at the corners. Then Sean Carpenter drove in Lansdon with a solid line-drive single up the middle.

The victory left the Bruins with rare smiles on their faces after the game.

“It’s definitely encouraging because it’s what we’ve been working toward,” McMillan said. “Anytime you put it all together makes all the work worthwhile.”