UCLA
13-4, 3-0
Washington State
4-12, 0-3
No. 16 UCLA Sweeps WSU with 5-4 Comeback Victory
March 18, 2018 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – RJ Teijeiro drove in the game-winning run with a two-run single in the eighth inning and Holden Powell tossed three shutout innings in relief as the No. 16 UCLA baseball team earned a series sweep of Washington State with a 5-4 victory on Sunday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Powell (2-0) picked up his second win of the weekend tossing the final 3.0 innings for the Bruins surrendering just one hit and collecting two strikeouts. Jack Ralston made his first career start at UCLA and tossed 3.1 innings allowing four runs on four hits.
Trailing by one run in the bottom of the eighth inning, Chase Strumpf led off with a single down the left-field line and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jake Pries. UCLA would then load the bases on back-to-back walks by Jack Stronach and Daniel Amaral, but WSU would get the next batter to pop out for the second out of the inning. That set up Teijeiro who came to the plate as a pinch hitter and would rip a 1-2 pitch through the right side of the infield to bring home Strumpf and Stronach for the 5-4 lead.
Washington State scored the first run of the game in the top of the second inning as Jack Smith grounded out to the second baseman to plate Blake Clanton from third base. UCLA grabbed its first lead of the game in the bottom half when Ryan Kreidler singled through the right side of the infield to drive in Amaral with a RBI-single and later scored on a single to right field by Jeremy Ydens for a 2-1 lead.
The Bruins tacked on one more run in the third inning when Stronach blasted a solo home run over the right-field wall to take a 3-1 advantage. Washington State responded with three runs in the top of the fourth inning to grab a 4-3 lead. Justin Harrer hit a solo home run to center field, while Cal Waterman and Andres Alvarez drew bases-loaded walks.
The UCLA pitching staff would then throw five-straight scoreless innings as Powell and Nick Scheidler combined to throw 5.1 innings in relief allowing three hits with five strikeouts.
Washington State's Ryan Walker suffered the loss allowing one run on one hit in one inning of work out of the bullpen, while starter Cody Anderson allowed four runs on nine hits in 7.0 innings with three strikeouts.
UCLA (13-4, 3-0) scored five runs on 10 hits with two errors, while Washington State (4-12, 0-3) finished the game with four runs on seven hits with no errors.
UCLA will return to the field next weekend when it continues Pac-12 play against Arizona State for a three-game series starting on Friday at 7 p.m. PT. Each game of the series will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Game Notes: RJ Teijeiro recorded his first career hit and recorded his first career RBIs … Jack Stronach hit his first home run of the season and the second of his career … Holden Powell set a career high with three innings pitched, while Nick Scheidler tied a season-best with 2.1 innings … Jeremy Ydens tallied his sixth multi-hit game of the season … Chase Strumpf and Jake Hirabayashi each tallied their fifth multi-hit game of the year … Jack Ralston made his official UCLA debut on the mound.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Powell, Holden (2-0)
L: Walker, Ryan (1-2)
Batting:
HR: Harrer, Justin 1
RBI: Alvarez, Andres 1 ; Harrer, Justin 1 ; Smith, Jack 1 ; Waterman, Cal 1
SH: Rudkin, James 1 ; Hancock, JJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Harrer, Justin 1 ; Clanton, Blake 1 ; Rudkin, James 1 ; Hancock, JJ 1
Batting:
2B: Ydens, Jeremy 1 ; Amaral, Daniel 1
HR: Stronach, Jack 1
RBI: Ydens, Jeremy 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Teijeiro, RJ 2
SH: Pries, Jake 1 ; Rosica, Daniel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 2 ; Amaral, Daniel 1 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1
SB: Teijeiro, RJ 1
