UCLA
21-5
CSUN at UCLA
12-17
No. 1 Bruins Rout CSUN 10-1
April 02, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 1 UCLA moved to a perfect 5-0 in midweek games this year after defeating CSUN 10-1 on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bruins (21-5) created a solid cushion early with a four-run second inning. The closest CSUN (12-17) got was within three after plating a single run in the top of the sixth, but UCLA responded with two runs in the bottom of the same frame to pull away. The Bruins would go on to add another four-spot in the seventh inning, marking the fourth time this year that they've scored double-digit runs.
Senior DH Jake Pries went 3-4 and scored a run to lead the UCLA offense. Junior first baseman Michael Toglia and junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler also had key extra-base hits, while junior left fielder Jack Stronach finished with a team-high three RBIs. ย
Freshman right-hander Jesse Bergin was outstanding in his second consecutive midweek start, holding the Matadors without a hit through his first five innings while striking out eight over 5 2/3 frames of one-run ball.
Kreidler opened the game's scoring in the second inning, ripping a grounder inside the third base bag and into the left field corner for a two-run double. The two-bagger scored both Pries and freshman center fielder Matt McLain, who had singled to reach earlier in the inning.
UCLA would double its lead before the inning was over, as Kreidler came across when a Noah Cardenas sac bunt was thrown away by CSUN third baseman Jose Ruiz. Junior second baseman Chase Strumpf followed with a run-scoring double into the left-center field gap to make it 4-0.
Toglia helped extend the Bruins' lead in the sixth, hitting an opposite field fly ball that got past CSUN left fielder Denzel Clarke for a two-run triple, his career-high third of the year.
UCLA put the game out of reach with four runs right after the seventh inning stretch. Jack Stronach had the big hit of that rally, clearing the bases with a double down the right field line.
CSUN was barely able to muster any offense over the course of the game, a trend which started with Jesse Bergin shutting them down for the first half of the game.
Over the first five innings, the Matadors managed just one baserunner as catcher Sean Skelly walked to lead off the second. Bergin bounced back to strike out the next batter and then roll up a routine 4-6-3 double play to face the minimum in the inning.
Meanwhile, Bergin picked up at least one strikeout in each of the first five innings. That stretch included a third inning that saw him strike out the first two batters on just six pitches combined and a fourth inning that featured him striking out the top of the CSUN lineup in order.
Bergin ran into trouble in the sixth after he allowed a pair of ground ball singles and then slipped while trying to field a sac bunt. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Bergin did well to limit the damage to one run by inducing a 5-4-3 double play. From there, freshman righty Jack Filby came on to get the final out of the inning, getting a flyout from Robert Bullard to end the threat.
The UCLA bullpen shut out the Matadors over the final 3 1/3 innings of the game. After Filby ended the sixth, Nate Hadley, Kyle Mora, and Felix Rubi each had scoreless frames to finish up the win.
UCLA is on the road this weekend, facing No. 2 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. The matchup is the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 series in college baseball since the 2016 season. The three-game set opens on Friday night at 6:05 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Bergin, Jesse (3-0)
L: Hamm, Cassius (2-2)
Base Running:
RUNS: Lucas, Andrew 1
Batting:
2B: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1
3B: Toglia, Michael 1
RBI: Kendall, Kevin 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 3 ; Toglia, Michael 2 ; Kreidler, Ryan 2
SH: Cardenas, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Kendall, Kevin 2 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Pries, Jake 1 ; McLain, Matt 1 ; Kreidler, Ryan 2 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
SB: Kendall, Kevin 2
HBP: Toglia, Michael 1
