UCLA
29-7, 10-4
California at UCLA
20-13, 8-6
No. 1 UCLA Drops Middle Game to Cal, 4-1
April 19, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – Junior righty Ryan Garcia allowed just one run over a solid six-inning start, but No. 1 UCLA dropped its middle game against Cal by a score of 4-1 on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week, Garcia had another standout outing against the Bears, picking up nine strikeouts over the duration of his outing. The Sierra Madre, Calif. native now has 33 strikeouts combined over his last three starts.
However, Cal (20-13, 8-6 Pac-12) starter Jared Horn had a fine outing of his own, pitching into the ninth while holding UCLA (29-7, 10-4) to just one run and three hits.
With Horn and Garcia dueling, the two teams were tied at 1-1 after six complete. From there, the Bears surged ahead with a three-run seventh inning to secure the lead. Cameron Eden and Andrew Vaughn both hit home runs to power the go-ahead rally.
UCLA threatened in the bottom of the ninth, as Jack Stronach walked with one out before Michael Toglia singled to put two on for the Bruins and chase Horn from the game. From there, Arman Sabouri – who was the "opener" for Cal on Thursday – struck out the next two batters to complete the upset.
The UCLA pen was solid in the final two innings, as sophomore righty Michael Townsend gave up just one hit over his 1 2/3 inning outing while junior righty Felix Rubi retired both batters he faced in the top of the ninth, getting a pop-up from Quintin Selma before inducing a weak grounder up the first baseline from Andrew Vaughn.
Garcia was rock-solid throughout the duration of his outing and was dominant at times, striking out the side in order in the second inning and going 1-2-3 in the fifth. He had at least one strikeout in all six of his innings.
Cal managed its one run off Garcia in the fourth, as Korey Lee doubled with one out and later scored on a sac fly.
UCLA opened the scoring a half-inning earlier, manufacturing a run after Kevin Kendall reached on a leadoff walk. UCLA's sophomore shortstop moved into scoring position after the Cal catcher sailed a backpick, then moved to third on a Will McInerny sac bunt. Garrett Mitchell then cashed him in with a solid fly ball to center.
The Bruins and Bears decide the series on Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. rubber match.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Horn, Jared (3-1)
L: Hadley, Nathan (6-1)
S: Sabouri, Arman (3)
Batting:
2B: Lee, Korey 1 ; Nielsen, Garret 1
HR: Eden, Cameron 1 ; Vaughn, Andrew 1
RBI: Eden, Cameron 2 ; Vaughn, Andrew 1 ; Wezniak, Sam 1
SH: Mack, Connor 1
SF: Wezniak, Sam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Eden, Cameron 1 ; Vaughn, Andrew 1 ; Lee, Korey 1 ; Lagattuta, John 1
Batting:
RBI: Mitchell, Garrett 1
SH: McInerny, Will 1
SF: Mitchell, Garrett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kendall, Kevin 1
CS: Silva, Jarron 1
