University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Alumni Game
UCLA Tops Alumni, 7-1
January 26, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway tossed four shutout innings and junior infielder Jack Stronach keyed a pair of rallies to lead the 2019 UCLA baseball team to a 7-1 victory over the alumni on Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Cleveland Indians star Trevor Bauer (2009-11) drew the start on the mound for the alumni, allowing just one run over five innings. Sean Bouchard (2015-17) drove in the alumni's lone run, yanking a grounder inside the third base line and into the left field corner to plate Steve Rodriguez, the Bruins' current Director of Operations, in the sixth inning.ย
The 2019 Bruins opened the scoring in the second. Junior infielder Jack Stronach was mostly responsible for the run, connecting on a Bauer offering and sending it off the base of the right field wall for a leadoff double. Stronach would tag up on fly balls from the next two batters to plate the game's first run.ย
Bauer would keep the Bruins off the board for the rest of his outing โ he allowed the one run while scattering six hits โ but UCLA was able to break it open once he left the game.
Stronach was once again the catalyst for a rally in the sixth, sparking a three-run inning with a leadoff base hit. He would move to third on a hit-and-run base hit from freshman center fielder Matt McLain. The hits kept coming after that, with senior outfielder Jake Pries, freshman infielder Jake Moberg, and sophomore outfielder Jarron Silva all chipping in RBI singles.
The Bruins took advantage of a pair of errors to tack on two more runs in the seventh. Silva capped the day's scoring with an RBI triple off the center field wall in the eighth inning.
UCLA's pitching staff combined to allow just one run. Pettway got it started with four shutout innings, freshman right-hander Jesse Bergin followed with three innings of one-run ball, then junior right-hander Kyle Mora and sophomore right-hander Holden Powell tossed scoreless innings to lock down the game.
Rodriguez was one of several Bruin coaches to take part in the contest. Assistant coach Niko Gallego had a sharp single in the second inning and made a pair of nice plays at second base before exiting the game midway through. Undergrad assistant coach David Berg tossed a perfect ninth inning, and director of player development Blake Patrick set what is believed to be a program record for alumni game at-bats.
"It was a good turnout, and it was great to have everyone back," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "Having Trevor out there for five innings was great, there was a lot of competitiveness. There were some good arms out there in Jake Bird, David Berg. It was fun for both sides."
UCLA officially opens the 2019 season at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Feb. 15 by hosting St. John's. Single-game and season tickets for the upcoming campaign are now available, and can be purchased by calling 310-UCLA-WIN or clickingย here.ย
The entire 2019 UCLA schedule can be seenย here.
