UCLA
4-0
Loyola Marymount at UCLA
1-2
UCLA Shuts Out LMU 5-0
February 19, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – No. 3 UCLA wrapped up a perfect season-opening four-game homestand with a 5-0 victory over Loyola Marymount on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins started the year with a three-game sweep of St. John's over the weekend, outscoring the Red Storm 23-3.
With the shutout, UCLA (4-0) pushed its streak of not allowing an earned run to four straight games. They are one of two teams in the country with a team ERA of 0.00 so far (Tennessee), and this is the first time the Bruins have gone without allowing an earned run in four straight games to start a season since the Gerrit Cole and Trevor-Bauer led squad did so in 2011.
UCLA created all the cushion it would need in the third inning. Senior DH Jake Pries had the big hit of that rally; with the bases loaded, he lofted a high fly ball to the left field warning track out of the reach of LMU left fielder Kenny Oyama for a three-run triple. Entering the season with no career triples, he now has two this season. Pries also now leads the Bruins with a .500 batting average this season.
Freshman Matt McLain opened the scoring earlier in the inning, drawing a bases-loaded walk to plate Will McInerny. McLain also drove in the game-winning run with a bases loaded walk on Opening Day.
With that comfortable lead, UCLA's pitching staff did the rest to nail down the win.
Freshman right-hander Nick Nastrini did the lion's share of the work, holding the Lions off the board for the entirety of his 4 2/3 inning start.
Just two days after Jesse Bergin set the John Savage-era record for strikeouts by a Bruin in his collegiate debut, Nastrini matched that mark by punching out nine LMU batters. He picked up a pair of strikeouts in each of his first four innings, recording his final K in the fifth before departing.
"Nastrini was pretty impressive to me," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "He pitched out of some problems and gave us a good start. He's worked hard at being poised and he did a nice job of making big pitches in big situations."
Freshman righty Jack Filby entered the game with two outs in the fifth and a runner on second, and preserved the shutout by striking out leadoff hitter Nick Sogard.
From there, six Bruin relievers combined to shut out the Lions the rest of the way.
LMU had its best chance at scoring in the top of the sixth inning, putting two on with one out and then loading the bases with two down. However, senior right-hander Nate Hadley entered the game and ended the threat by getting pinch-hitter Chase Reed to swing over a 2-2 change-up for an inning ending strikeout.
Hadley followed up with a scoreless seventh, and ended up earning the victory. Kyle Mora and Holden Powell then pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to close it out. Mora has now retired all 12 batters he's faced this season.
The Bruins hit the road for the first time in 2019 this weekend, traveling to Atlanta, Ga. for a three-game set at Georgia Tech starting Friday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hadley, Nathan (1-0)
L: FINKELNBURG, Mark (0-1)
Batting:
2B: SHEARER, Brandon 1 ; OYAMA, Kenny 1
Base Running:
CS: OYAMA, Kenny 1
HBP: OYAMA, Kenny 1
Batting:
3B: Toglia, Michael 1 ; Pries, Jake 1
RBI: McLain, Matt 1 ; Pries, Jake 3 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1
SH: McInerny, Will 1
SF: Kreidler, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kendall, Kevin 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1 ; McLain, Matt 2 ; McInerny, Will 1
SB: McInerny, Will 1
HBP: McLain, Matt 1
