UCLA
1-0
St. John's
0-1
UCLA Edges St. John's 3-2 on Opening Day
February 15, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 3-ranked UCLA baseball team had the start to its season-opening game against St. John's delayed over a half hour by rain in the area on Friday evening, but there turned out to be delayed gratification for the Bruins who emerged with a 3-2 victory to claim their third straight Opening Day contest.
It was a pitcher's duel over the first five innings of the game, as both UCLA (1-0) starter Zach Pettway and St. John's ย (0-1) starter Sean Mooney showed no signs of early-season jitters.
Mooney allowed just two hits over the game's first five innings, staking himself to a 2-0 lead after the Red Storm scratched across a pair of unearned runs.
The tide turned for UCLA in the sixth inning. Junior second baseman and consensus First Team Preseason All-American Chase Strumpf started off the inning by legging out an infield single, moving to second on a sacrifice from Matt McLain. Two batters later, SJU brought in lefty reliever Turner French, and UCLA head coach John Savage countered by bringing in the right-handed Jake Pries to pinch-hit.
Pries made that move pay dividends immediately, smashing a 3-2 offering from French off the top of the center field wall for a run-scoring triple, the first three-bagger of the senior's career.
UCLA would employ small ball and take advantage of SJU control issues to take the lead for good in the bottom of the seventh. First, the Bruins loaded the bases on a perfect Ryan Kreidler drag bunt single, a four-pitch walk to Jeremy Ydens, and a catcher's interference call with Kevin Kendall at the plate.
A pair of quality at-bats made the Red Storm pay for those earlier miscues, as Strumpf walked on five pitches to tie the game before McLain battled back from an 0-2 count to force a nine-pitch, run-scoring walk that put UCLA in the lead for the first time.
After starting their charge back in the middle innings, UCLA's pitchers put the clamps down in the final third of the game. A trio of Bruin hurlers โ Pettway, freshman Jack Filby, and junior Kyle Mora โ combined to retire nine straight SJU batters from the sixth through eighth innings.
Sophomore closer Holden Powell finished off the job with a scoreless ninth, allowing only a single. In all, four Bruin pitchers retired 12 of 13 SJU batters to finish the game.
"It was a good opening night," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "St. John's has a good team, and Mooney is a polished pitcher who competes and makes pitches. Our bench did a good job, with the big hit with Pries, and then we scratched in our run from McLain on the walk. I'm happy with it, it wasn't perfect but it was a good start."
Filby, who was recruited as an infielder, pitched a perfect seventh inning to secure the win in his collegiate debut. Powell, a member of the Stopper of the Year Watch List, was rewarded with his first save of the year.
Pettway received a no-decision on the night, but the sophomore right-hander was a standout in the first Friday night start of his career. Joining the likes of Gerrit Cole, Adam Plutko, and James Kaprielian as recent sophomore to start on Opening Day for UCLA, Pettway surrendered just three hits while striking out nine over his six innings of work.
Though he gave single unearned runs in the fourth and sixth innings, he was key in limiting those rallies to one run. He ended up striking out the side in the fourth after SJU opened the scoring on a Mitchell Henshaw single, then picked up another pair of punchouts before inducing a weak pop foul near first base to stem a sixth inning missive from the Red Storm.
His counterpart, Mooney, was also solid, allowing three hits and one earned over 5 2/3 innings. He allowed half of St. John's eight walks on the night. Lefty Nick Mondak was stuck with the loss after walking in Strumpf and McLain in the seventh.
Strumpf and junior left fielder Jeremy Ydens both finished as UCLA's top offensive performers, reaching base three times apiece. Both had a single and two walks.
The Bruins aim for the series win tomorrow behind the right arm of junior Jack Ralston, who will be opposed by SJU southpaw Jeff Belge. First pitch from Jackie Robinson Stadium is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Filby, Jack (1-0)
L: MONDAK (0-1)
S: Powell, Holden (1)
Batting:
RBI: BARTELS 1 ; HENSHAW 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ANTICO 2
SB: ANTICO 2
CS: MILLER 1
Batting:
3B: Pries, Jake 1
RBI: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; McLain, Matt 1 ; Pries, Jake 1
SH: McLain, Matt 1 ; McInerny, Will 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ydens, Jeremy 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1
SB: Ydens, Jeremy 1
CS: Mitchell, Garrett 1
HBP: Ydens, Jeremy 1
