UCLA
26-6
East Carolina at UCLA
25-9
No. 1 UCLA Sweeps Doubleheader, Series from No. 8 ECU
April 13, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 1 UCLA won both ends of a doubleheader to complete a series sweep of No. 8 East Carolina University on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
UCLA won the opener of the twin bill 8-5 thanks to a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth from Michael Toglia, who also drove in five runs to help UCLA to a victory on Friday night. Junior right-hander Ryan Garcia tossed seven scoreless and had the most strikeouts by a Bruin in over five years to lead a combined 3-0 shutout win in the nightcap.
With the sweep, the Bruins improved to 27-6 overall on the season. ECU dropped to 25-10.
The Bruins continue an eight-game homestand next week, hosting Pepperdine in midweek action on Monday night at 6:00 p.m. before returning to Pac-12 play with a three-game series against Cal at Jackie Robinson Stadium from Thursday to Saturday. The Pac-12 Network will televise the Thursday and Friday games of the series, with both contests slated for 7:00 p.m. starts.
Game One Recap
Less than 24 hours after collecting five RBIs in the late innings to help UCLA to a 7-5 win over ECU in the series opener, Michael Toglia came through again for the Bruins in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, crushing a three-run home run to left field to give UCLA an 8-5 walk-off victory.
The game-winning blast was UCLA's first walk-off homer since Kort Peterson had one against Texas on Mar. 12, 2016.
Toglia's damage on Friday night came while batting from the left side, but he proved to be just as dangerous as a right-handed hitter in the ninth inning of Saturday's contest.
Facing the left-handed Alec Burleson, Toglia got a hold of the first pitch he saw and sent a no-doubter beyond the left field fence. The homer plated both Ryan Kreidler and Jack Stronach. Kreidler wore a 2-0 fastball to put the leadoff runner aboard for UCLA, and then Stronach put the Bruins in business after walking on four pitches.
The earlier innings of the game were a see-saw affair, as UCLA led 2-0 after two before surrendering four straight runs. UCLA re-claimed the lead with two runs in the sixth, but saw the Pirates knot the game at 5-5 with a single run in the very next half inning, setting up Toglia's heroics.
Jarron Silva opened the game's scoring in the second inning, hitting a chopper over the first baseman's head and down the right field line to bring in Toglia, who had walked on four pitches earlier in the inning. Freshman catcher Noah Cardenas cashed in Silva a few batters later with an infield single, one of his two hits in the game.
ECU did most of their damage in the third, plating one run on a Burleson double and two more on a Turner Brown single up the middle. The Pirates brought in another run an inning later to make it 4-2, their biggest lead of the game.
Kreidler halved that lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single to plate Kevin Kendall, and then sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell clubbed a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth โ his second home run of the year โ to give the Bruins a one-run lead at 5-4.
Junior righty Kyle Mora earned the win for UCLA to improve to 3-2 on the year. He retired all six batters he faced over two innings of relief, finishing the contest with three strikeouts.
Sophomore righty Michael Townsend was also solid in relief. Entering the game to start the sixth inning, he gave up a leadoff double but bounced back to retire the next three batters for a scoreless inning. Townsend induced swinging strikeouts from the final two batters of the frame to strand the runner on third.
Game Two Recap
Behind a career start from Ryan Garcia, UCLA completed its sweep of East Carolina with a 3-0 win in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader.
A week after striking out 11 batters at Stanford, Garcia one-upped himself against the Pirates by striking out a career-high 13. He struck out the side in both the second and fourth innings, and recorded multiple Ks in four innings overall.
When he wasn't striking out ECU batters, he was limiting them in other ways.
The Pirates had just one runner in scoring position all game against Garcia, and it was the first batter of the game as Bryant Packard doubled down the left field line. Garcia bounced back to end the inning without any damage, first getting a pop-up from Turner Brown before rolling up an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
ECU mustered just two hits the rest of the way off Garcia, both singles, and both times Garcia stranded those runners at first base.
His final line read seven innings pitched, three hits allowed, no runs allowed, two walks, and 13 strikeouts. The last Bruin to reach the 13-K mark was Cody Poteet against Michigan on Mar. 2, 2014. Garcia is the first UCLA pitcher with double-digit strikeouts in back-to-back appearances since Griffin Canning in 2017.
Matt McLain was UCLA's offensive leader, going 2-3 and scoring the game-winning run. That run was set up by his base hit to start the third inning. A sac bunt from Will McInerny sandwiched by two wild pitches from ECU starter Jake Kuchmaner advanced McLain all the way from first to home.
Junior second baseman Chase Strumpf doubled the Bruins' lead with a no-doubt solo homer to left in the sixth inning. Strumpf teed off on a 3-2 fastball from Kuchmaner to chase him from the game and make it 2-0.
UCLA added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out rally. Ryan Kreidler started off with a loud double off the left field wall. After an intentional walk to Chase Strumpf, Jake Pries hit a chopper up the first base line. Fielding it near the outfield grass, ECU first baseman Spencer Brickhouse wheeled and tried to throw out Kreidler at home, but Kreidler snuck his foot in ahead of the tag from the catcher to make it 3-0.
The Bruin bullpen shut it down over the final two innings.
Kyle Mora recordedย a quick 1-2-3 inning to get through the eighth, then Holden Powell followed with a scoreless ninth to record the save, his 10th of the year.
Powell becomes the first Bruin to reach double-digit saves since David Berg in 2015.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mora, Kyle (3-2)
L: BURLESON, Alec (2-1)
Batting:
2B: PACKARD, Bryant 1 ; BURLESON, Alec 1 ; BROWN, Turner 1 ; BAKER, Dusty 1
RBI: BURLESON, Alec 1 ; BROWN, Turner 3
SH: HOOVER, Lane 1 ; LLOYD, Brady 1
Base Running:
RUNS: PACKARD, Bryant 1 ; BRICKHOUSE, Spencer 2 ; BURLESON, Alec 1 ; LLOYD, Brady 1
Batting:
2B: Silva, Jarron 1
HR: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1
RBI: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Toglia, Michael 3 ; Silva, Jarron 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
SH: Cardenas, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Toglia, Michael 2 ; Silva, Jarron 1 ; Kendall, Kevin 2
HBP: Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 2
