UCLA
18-4
UCLA at Loyola Marymount
15-9
No. 1 UCLA Rallies Early, Defeats LMU 9-4
March 26, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 1 UCLA registered its biggest first inning of the year in Tuesday's midweek matchup at Loyola Marymount, scoring six runs as part of an eventual 9-4 win over the Lions.
UCLA, winners of five straight, improved to 18-4 overall on the campaign with the win. LMU, which was in the last of a five games in five days stretch, dropped to 15-9. ย ย
Senior DH Jake Pries had the biggest blow of the first inning rally, teeing off on an 0-1 fastball and sending it over the blue monster at LMU's Page Stadium for a grand slam. It was the second career grand slam for Pries, and the first for UCLA since Ryan Kreidler had one on Apr. 6, 2018 against Stanford. ย
The Bruins had earlier loaded the bases on a leadoff single from sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell, a throwing error from LMU starter Nate Madole while trying to field a Kreidler tapper, and a hit-by-pitch off the helmet of junior second baseman Chase Strumpf.
With still nobody out after the Pries slam, UCLA went on to do even more damage. Michael Toglia, Matt McLain, and Jake Hirabayashi chipped in three consecutive singles, with the former chasing Madole from the game and the latter bringing in the fifth run of the frame. Freshman catcher Noah Cardenas officially made it UCLA's highest-scoring first inning of the year with a sac fly to plate McLain. UCLA's previous-high in first innings run came in the Oregon State series finale (five runs, Mar. 17).
By the time the opening frame had ended, UCLA had sent 11 batters to the plate, faced three LMU pitchers, scored six runs, and collected six hits.
The Bruins went on to add a pair of insurance runs in the fourth, as Toglia laced a two-out base hit into right field to score Kreidler and Strumpf, who had doubled and walked, respectively, to reach earlier in the inning. Strumpf closed the scoring for the Bruins with an RBI double in the eighth inning, extending his team-high hitting streak to 13 games.
Eight of nine starters had a hit for UCLA, led by Mitchell who went 3-6 with a pair of runs. Toglia (2-4), McLain (2-4), and Hirabayashi (2-5) all joined Mitchell in the multi-hit club.
With a 1-2-3 seventh inning, senior righty Nate Hadley earned the win for UCLA to improve to 4-0 on the year. He's received the decision in three of the Bruins' four midweeks this year.
Sophomore righties Michael Townsend and Holden Powell also had standout relief outings.
Townsend inherited a one-on, no-out situation in the sixth and after allowing a lights-aided double, bounced back to get the next three batters to strand both runners.
Powell went 1-2-3 in the ninth in a non-save situation, finishing his Pac-12-leading 15th game of the year. He struck out the first batter he faced, then induced a weak tapper before Kenny Oyama popped outย to end the game.
Starting pitcher Jesse Bergin was solid in his 4 2/3 inning outing, allowing just two hits and striking out five.
UCLA takes on crosstown rival USC this weekend, traveling to Dedeaux Field for a three-game series starting at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The Pac-12 Networks will televise all three games of the series.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hadley, Nathan (4-0)
L: MADOLE, N. (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 1
HR: Pries, Jake 1
RBI: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Pries, Jake 4 ; Toglia, Michael 2 ; Hirabayashi, Jake 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
SH: Kreidler, Ryan 1
SF: Cardenas, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Kreidler, Ryan 2 ; Strumpf, Chase 2 ; Pries, Jake 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1 ; McLain, Matt 1
SB: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; McLain, Matt 1
HBP: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1 ; McLain, Matt 1
Batting:
2B: DELGADO, T. 2
HR: ESQUERRA, T. 1
RBI: OYAMA, K. 2 ; ESQUERRA, T. 1 ; DELGADO, T. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SHEARER, B. 1 ; ESQUERRA, T. 1 ; UHL, C. 1 ; HIRSCH, D. 1
SB: OYAMA, K. 1 ; SHEARER, B. 1
HBP: PATRICK, E. 1
PO: PATRICK, E. 1
