UCLA
32-7, 12-4
Utah at UCLA
12-23, 4-13
Garcia Throws Two-Hitter as No. 1 UCLA Blanks Utah 5-0
April 26, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Junior right-hander Ryan Garcia threw a complete game two-hitter to lead No. 1 UCLA to a 5-0 shutout win over Utah on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The start was the latest masterpiece in what is becoming a breakout season for Garcia, who established a new career-high with 14 strikeouts while lowering his season ERA to 1.10. The Sierra Madre, Calif. native allowed just three baserunners all night, none of which advanced past first base. Despite going the distance, he finished the game with a fairly economical 108 pitches.
"Ryan's been building up, getting better and better each start," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "He threw the ball extremely well tonight, threw four pitches for strikes. He stepped up into that Friday night role and was pretty electric. He commanded his pitches and was very pitch-efficient."
UCLA (32-7, 12-4 Pac-12) put together a decisive three-run rally in the second inning before scoring single insurance runs in the fifth and eighth. Ryan Kreidler (2-5), Michael Toglia (2-4), and Noah Cardenas (2-4) each had multi-hit nights to lead the Bruins offense. Cardenas extended his hit streak to a team-high nine games and now has multiple hits in three straight contests.
That cushion was more than enough for Garcia, who dominated Utah (12-23, 4-13) practically from start to finish.
He started the game by retiring eight straight, a stretch that included him striking out the side in the second. Nine-hole hitter Matt Richardson singled with two outs in the third to interrupt that streak, but Garcia struck out the next batter to complete the frame.
Utah's best opportunity to score a run was in the fourth after a leadoff walk to Rykker Tom, Garcia's only free pass of the game. However, Garcia kept Tom from even advancing a base, inducing a shallow fly ball, striking out cleanup hitter Shea Kramer, and then getting a fly ball to left to end the inning.
After a 1-2-3 fifth, Richardson singled to lead off the sixth, but that would turn out to be Utah's final baserunner of the night as Cardenas gunned him down at second on a hit-and-run while Garcia picked up a pair of strikeouts. He proceeded to retire the final nine batters of the game in order, giving him a streak of 11 straight to close the game. Of those 11 batters, only one hit a ball out of the infield.
Garcia locked down a number of notable achievements after his showing against the Utes. He became the first Bruin to record a complete game shutout since Griffin Canning in 2017, and the first to strike out 14 batters since Trevor Bauer in 2011. It was his first career complete game, and the 14 strikeouts represented a new career-high. The La Salle HS product has struck out at least nine batters in each of his last four starts, including a trio of 10-K outings.
Toglia jump-started UCLA's second-inning outburst by ripping a liner down the left field line for a leadoff double. Jack Stronach followed with an RBI base hit to right field to score Toglia, and then Matt McLain put UCLA right back into business after legging out a double on a line drive to medium left-center field. Cardenas cashed in Stronach with an RBI groundout, and then sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell pulled a single through the right side to bring in McLain and make it 3-0.
Senior DH Jake Pries singled with one out in the fifth, then came all the way around to score after a walk to Toglia, a wild pitch, and a sac fly from Stronach. The Bruins closed the scoring in the eighth, using a Cardenas single, a hit-by-pitch, and two walks to force in another run.
Starter Riley Pierce was solid for Utah other than the second inning, giving up just one earned run over the remainderย of his seven-inning outing. He scattered 10 hits and struck out four. He received the loss to drop to 1-6.
UCLA and Utah resume the series on Saturday afternoon with a 2:00 contest. Redshirt junior Jack Ralston (6-0, 3.00 ERA) is scheduled to take the ball for the Bruins.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garcia, Ryan (5-0)
L: Pierce, Riley (1-6)
Base Running:
CS: Richardson, Matt 1
Batting:
2B: Toglia, Michael 1 ; McLain, Matt 1 ; Hirabayashi, Jake 1
RBI: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 2 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
SF: Stronach, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pries, Jake 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; McLain, Matt 1 ; Hirabayashi, Jake 1
HBP: Hirabayashi, Jake 1
PO: Strumpf, Chase 1
