UCLA
22-6, 0
Stanford
20-4, 0
No. 1 UCLA Brings the Bats in 11-5 Win Over No. 2 Stanford
April 06, 2019 | Baseball
STANFORD, Calif. – No. 1 UCLA collected a season-high 15 hits and received four innings of hit-free relief from the bullpen as part of a series-evening 11-5 win over No. 2 Stanford on Saturday afternoon at Sunken Diamond.
Five separate Bruins (22-6, 8-3 Pac-12) had multiple hits off a Cardinal (20-4, 7-1) pitching staff that entered the weekend with the lowest ERA in the country. Junior left fielder Jack Stronach and junior first baseman Michael Toglia had the most potent days with the bat, as the duo combined for six hits and seven RBIs.
Stronach set a new career-high with four hits and he led UCLA on Saturday with three runs scored. Toglia meanwhile became the first Bruin this year to record five RBIs in a game, as he homered and doubled as part of a 2-4 day.
Garrett Mitchell (3-5, two runs), Jake Pries (2-4, three RBIs), and Ryan Kreidler (2-5, two runs) all chipped in as well as the Bruins reached the double-digit run mark for the fifth time this season.
The early innings of the game were a see-saw affair, as UCLA fired a three-run salvo in the top of the first to take an early lead before the Cardinal plated runs in each of its first two at-bats to go up 4-3 by the end of the second.
From there on, it was all UCLA as the Bruins put together multi-run rallies in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings to build a substantial lead.
Holding onto a 9-5 lead at the conclusion of the fifth inning, the UCLA bullpen did its job to completely shut the door on Stanford.
Over the final four frames, a trio of UCLA relievers – Jesse Bergin, Nate Hadley, and Holden Powell – held the Cardinal without a hit while striking out six. Only one Stanford baserunner reached over that span, as Maverick Handley got on board to start off the ninth on a UCLA error.
The first man out of the pen, Bergin, mowed through the Cardinal in his two innings of work. He struck out a pair of batters in the sixth, and then needed just six pitches to retire the side in order in the seventh.
Hadley and Powell, who pitched the eighth and ninth respectively, each had a pair of strikeouts in their innings of work.
Pries got the Bruins off to a strong start in the top of the first inning, hitting a rocket just inside the first base bag and into the right field corner for a two-run triple. Stronach, in a lefty-lefty matchup against Stanford starter Jacob Palisch, followed with an RBI single through the right side to give UCLA a three-run margin early.
Toglia provided the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the top of the fourth, as he connected on a 1-2 offering from Palisch and deposited it over the left field fence for a two-run homer, his fourth of the year. That roundtripper spelled the end of the day for Palisch.
The Bruins created some cushion with their biggest inning of the game in the fifth. Stronach and junior second baseman Chase Strumpf each had RBI doubles during the rally, while UCLA also created runs on a Pries sac fly and a Toglia RBI groundout. Mitchell and Kreidler provided back-to-back singles to lead off the inning and set the table for the four-spot.
Toglia capped the day's scoring by lofting a fly ball down the right field line for a two-run double in the seventh inning. The two-bagger gave him his fourth and fifth RBIs of the day, the third time in his career that he's reached the five-RBI plateau.
UCLA starter Jack Ralston was shaky early but settled down to provide five solid innings and earn the win, moving to 5-0 on the year. After allowing four runs over the first two frames, only one of which was earned, he settled down and allowed just a single run over his final three innings of work. He gave up just two hits in that same span.
The Newhall, Calif. native ended his day with a line of five innings pitched, six hits allowed, five runs allowed, two earned runs allowed, four walks, and five strikeouts.
The Bruins and Cardinal play are set to play a series-deciding rubber match on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. Junior righty Ryan Garcia (2-0, 1.35 ERA) is slated to start for UCLA opposite Cardinal southpaw Erik Miller (3-0, 2.56 ERA).
Here are highlights from today's series-evening win over the Cardinal.
— UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) April 7, 2019
Bruins came away with an 11-5 win on the strength of a season-high 15 hits and four hit-free innings from the bullpen. #GoBruins | #UCLAvsSTAN pic.twitter.com/vhAO7ETWP0
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ralston, Jack (5-0)
L: Palisch,Jacob (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1
3B: Pries, Jake 1
HR: Toglia, Michael 1
RBI: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Pries, Jake 3 ; Stronach, Jack 2 ; Toglia, Michael 5
SF: Pries, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Kreidler, Ryan 2 ; Strumpf, Chase 2 ; Pries, Jake 1 ; Stronach, Jack 3 ; Toglia, Michael 1
SB: Mitchell, Garrett 1
Batting:
2B: Brueser,Nick 1
HR: Daschbach,Andrew 1
RBI: Wulff,Brandon 1 ; Matthiessen,Will 2 ; Daschbach,Andrew 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kinamon,Duke 2 ; Daschbach,Andrew 1 ; Tawa,Tim 1 ; Bellafronto,Nick 1
HBP: Kinamon,Duke 1
