UCLA
34-7, 14-4
Utah at UCLA
12-25, 4-17
No. 1 UCLA Completes Utah Sweep With 6-4 Sunday Win
April 28, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – No. 1 UCLA held off Utah for a 6-4 win in Sunday's series finale at Jackie Robinson Stadium, completing the weekend sweep in the team's penultimate regular season home series of 2019.
The Bruins (34-7, 14-4 Pac-12) got out to an early lead thanks to a three-run first inning, but had to fend off Utah (12-25, 4-17), which posted two-spots to make it a one-run game in both the fifth and eighth innings.
After having already scored two runs, the Utes had the game-tying run 90 feet from home in the eighth, but the Bruins capitalized on an over-aggressive baserunning decision by Isaac Cruz to snuff out the chance.
With UCLA closer Holden Powell on the mound and two outs, Cruz tried to score from third on a slider in the dirt. However, Bruins catcher Noah Cardenas blocked the pitch, scurried to his right to collect the ball, and then shoveled it to Powell who had plenty of time to tag a flailing Cruz for the third out.
Down two after UCLA added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, the Utes managed just a single baserunner in the ninth after Oliver Dunn worked a one-out walk. Powell recovered to strike out Rykker Tom before getting a harmless fly ball to right off the bat of Erick Migueles to lock down the six-out save, his league-leading 12th of the year.
"It wasn't pretty, but at the end of the day we got we wanted," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "It's tough to sweep anybody in this conference, and Utah is very competitive."
Sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell was UCLA's primary offensive weapon on Sunday, going 3-5 out of the leadoff spot, finishing a home run short of the cycle, and scoring three runs. Ryan Kreidler drove in Mitchell twice with RBI singles, Chase Strumpf chipped in a key run-scoring double, and Michael Toglia homered for the second consecutive day to bring his team-leading HR total to eight.
Strumpf was instrumental in the Bruins' first-inning rally, lacing a double into the left-center field gap to plate Mitchell. He scored moments later on a Jack Stronach sac fly.
The next batter, Toglia, made it a three-spot by crushing a 1-1 offering from Utah starter Dustyn Schramm off the top of the Gifford Hitting Facility for a solo home run. The shot came from the left side of the plate, giving him homers from both sides of the plate in the series as he went deep as a righty on Saturday afternoon.
Utah put together a two-out, two-run rally to cut its deficit to one in the top of the fifth. Dunn was the key factor in the inning for the Utes, doubling in a run and scoring himself when the next batter singled.
The Bruins re-built their initial lead after bringing in single runs in both the fifth and sixth – Mitchell doubled and scored for the first run, then Utah let in another on a wild pitch – just to see Utah claw back in the eighth.
The Utes got the first two runners on in that inning, prompting Savage to bring in Powell. Though Utah would cash in both of those inherited runners – one on an RBI groundout and another on a sac fly – Powell limited the damage there and escaped the inning with the lead intact thanks in part to the Cardenas play at the plate.
Mitchell capped the day's scoring with a three-bagger in the eighth, coming in on a Kreidler base hit.
With a scoreless seventh inning featuring two strikeouts, sophomore right-hander Michael Townsend received his first collegiate win for UCLA.
UCLA starter Jesse Bergin was solid for the Bruins, holding the Utes without a hit over his first four innings. He ended the day with a line of 4 2/3 innings pitched, one hit allowed, two earned runs allowed, four walks, and four strikeouts.
His counterpart, Schramm, was tagged with the loss to drop to 1-2. He gave up four earned on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings.
UCLA plays eight of its next nine games on the road, starting Tuesday afternoon at Pepperdine. First pitch from Eddy D. Field Stadium in Malibu, Calif. is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Townsend, Michael (1-0)
L: Schramm, Dustyn (1-2)
S: Powell, Holden (12)
Batting:
2B: Dunn, Oliver 1
RBI: Dunn, Oliver 1 ; Tom, Rykker 1 ; Moeller, Zack 1 ; Anderson, Chandler 1
SF: Anderson, Chandler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dunn, Oliver 1 ; Migueles, Erick 1 ; Moeller, Zack 1 ; Richardson, Matt 1
Batting:
2B: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 1
3B: Mitchell, Garrett 1
HR: Toglia, Michael 1
RBI: Kreidler, Ryan 2 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1
SF: Stronach, Jack 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 3 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1 ; Kendall, Kevin 1
