UCLA
15-4, 3-1
Arizona
13-8, 2-2
Top-Ranked UCLA Defeats Arizona 10-5 in Series Opener
March 22, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The top-ranked UCLA baseball team scored in each of its first five offensive innings to win its series opener over Arizona 10-5 on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
UCLA (15-4, 3-1 Pac-12) didn't wait long to punch back after falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, scoring single runs in each of the next three innings before opening up a comfortable lead with a four-run fourth.
Sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway bounced back nicely after that two-run first, holding Arizona (13-8, 2-2) off the board for the rest of his seven-inning outing while matching his career-high with 10 strikeouts.
Sophomore shortstop Kevin Kendall went 3-3 and scored four runs while sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell had a pair of doubles and two RBIs out of the leadoff spot to lead the Bruin offense. Junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler hit a solo homer in the first โ his team-leading fourth of the year โ to open the scoring for UCLA.
Kendall scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the second, coming in all the way from first on an RBI double into the left-center field gap by junior catcher Will McInerny. UCLA went up for good in the next inning as Mitchell doubled and then scored on an opposite field RBI base hit from junior second baseman Chase Strumpf.
UCLA put the game out of reach with four runs in the fourth, stringing together four hits and taking advantage of a pair of Arizona errors. Mitchell produced the first run of the inning with an RBI double into the right-center gap, and then junior left fielder Jack Stronach brought in two more with a two-run double to right.
Pettway shut down the Wildcats after the first inning, allowing just a pair of singles the rest of the way. The Wildcats never got a runner past first base after Pettway struck out Tate Soderstrom to end the first inning.
The reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week ended his day by retiring six straight, including a pair of swinging strikeouts to get him out of the seventh. He struck out at least one batter in every frame, allowing him to set a new season-high and match his career-best with 10 punchouts.
Arizona plated three runs in the top of the eighth inning to make it a five-run game, but freshman right-hander Jack Filby entered the game and stopped the bleeding there, ending the frame with a strikeout of Kobe Kato after a 10-pitch battle.
Sophomore righty Holden Powell struck out all three batters he faced in a scoreless ninth inning.
The Bruins and Wildcats play game two of their series tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 p.m. Redshirt junior Jack Ralston (3-0, 1.86 ERA) is scheduled to start for UCLA opposite Arizona freshman right-hander Quince Flanagan (3-0, 1.12 ERA).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pettway, Zach (2-1)
L: Labaut, Randy (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Quintana, Nick 1
RBI: Dyer, Matthew 1 ; Wells, Austin 2 ; Quintana, Nick 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Williams, Donta 1 ; Dyer, Matthew 2 ; Wells, Austin 1 ; Boissiere, Branden 1
CS: Dooney, Dayton 1
Batting:
2B: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; McInerny, Will 1
HR: Kreidler, Ryan 1
RBI: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Kreidler, Ryan 2 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 2 ; McInerny, Will 1
SH: McInerny, Will 1
SF: Kreidler, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Kreidler, Ryan 2 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; McLain, Matt 1 ; Kendall, Kevin 4
SB: McLain, Matt 1
HBP: McInerny, Will 1
PO: McInerny, Will 1
