UCLA
41-8, 19-5
Washington State
10-36-1, 2-21-1
No. 1 UCLA Defeats WSU 13-10, Finishes Sweep
May 12, 2019 | Baseball
PULLMAN, Wash. โ No. 1 UCLA completed a weekend sweep of Washington State with a 13-10 win on Sunday at Bailey-Brayton Field, holding off the Cougars in a see-saw series finale.
With the win, the Bruins (41-8, 19-5 Pac-12) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Pac-12 Conference with two weekends of league action remaining. The other two teams atop the league, Stanford and Oregon State, face off against each other next weekend.
UCLA and WSU traded haymakers all day, but it wasย the Bruins that landed the first big punch, plating five runs in the fourth to go ahead 6-2. The Cougars (10-36-1, 2-21-1) answered with a six-spot in the bottom half of the fourth to go up 8-6, a lead they held on to until the Bruins posted another five-spot in the top of the seventh.
Trailing by five heading into the bottom of the ninth, WSU had its first four batters of the frame reach, a streak capped off by a two-run double from Bradley Polinskyย that made it a three-run game. Though a two-out walk put the game-tying run aboard, UCLA closer Holden Powell recovered and got a lazy ball in foul territory down the left field line for the final out of the game.
UCLA collected 17 hits for the afternoon, a figure which trails only the season-high 22 from last Saturday's 18-3 rout at Arizona State.
Several Bruins had standout days with the bat.
Freshman center fielder Matt McLain hit two home runs, the first multi-HR game of his career. Entering the weekend with just one roundtripper on his ledger, McLain hit three in a 24-hour span between Saturday and Sunday.
Junior first baseman Michael Toglia was 3-5 and scored three runs, finishing a triple short of the cycle. Sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell was 4-6 and drove in a pair of runs, and junior second baseman Chase Strumpf went 2-4 and reached base four times.
On the pitching side, redshirt senior righty Nate Hadley helped calm the game down for the Bruins. Taking over with one out in the fourth, Hadley would go on to allow just three hits and no runs over a career-long 3 2/3 inning outing. He received the victory to improve to 8-1 on the year.
Junior righty Kyle Mora followed with a scoreless eighth before handing the ball over to Holden Powell to start the ninth.
Toglia opened the game's scoring with a solo shot to left-center field in the second inning, giving him a team-high 11 homers on the year. The Cougars answered with two runs in the bottom half of that frame, the first of four lead changes on the afternoon.
UCLA built a solid lead after batting around and scoring five runs in the fourth. McLain had the biggest blow of that rally, driving a 2-1 pitch over the right-center field fence for a three-run bomb. Sophomore shortstop Kevin Kendall and junior infielder Ryan Kreidler also contributed RBI singles during the frame.
Washington State made the Bruins pay for a pair of walks to lead off the bottom of the fourth, parlaying those two free passes into a six-run rally that put the home team up 8-6. Sunday marked the second time this year that UCLA has allowed a six-run inning, and the Bruins have emerged victorious in both those contests (Mar. 23 vs. Arizona; 12-10).
UCLA went up for good with another five spot in the seventh. The first three batters of that inning reached, with Toglia doubling in Strumpf to cut the deficit to one. Moments later, a wild pitch brought in Jack Stronach to knot the score, then the Bruins took the lead on a Jake Hirabayashi sac fly. Mitchell capped the inning's scoring with a two-run single.
The Bruins would go on to add single insurance runs in both the eighth and ninth innings โ the latter coming on McLain's second roundtripper โ but had to weather a WSU comeback effort in the last of the ninth.
Aided by a pair of walks, the Cougars got their first four batters on in that inning, a stretch that was capped off by Polinksy's two-run double. Powell would go on to limit the damage there, fanning the next two batters before getting the game-ending foulout.
UCLA is next in action on Tuesday night at UC Irvine in the team's final midweek contest of 2019. First pitch from Cicerone Field is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hadley, Nathan (8-1)
L: Guerrero, Tyson (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Toglia, Michael 1 ; Pries, Jake 1
HR: Toglia, Michael 1 ; McLain, Matt 2
RBI: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Toglia, Michael 2 ; Cardenas, Noah 1 ; Kendall, Kevin 1 ; Hirabayashi, Jake 1 ; McLain, Matt 4
SF: Hirabayashi, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Toglia, Michael 3 ; Pries, Jake 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 2 ; Kendall, Kevin 1 ; McLain, Matt 3
SB: Mitchell, Garrett 2
CS: Pries, Jake 1
HBP: Cardenas, Noah 1
Batting:
2B: Polinsky, Bradley 1 ; Gouldsmith, Garrett 1 ; Barnum, Brody 1
RBI: Plew, Dillon 1 ; Manzardo, Kyle 1 ; Teel, Rob 1 ; Polinsky, Bradley 2 ; Gouldsmith, Garrett 2 ; Barnum, Brody 2
SH: Alvarez, Andres 1 ; Guerrero, Tyson 1 ; Gouldsmith, Garrett 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sinatro, Danny 1 ; Alvarez, Andres 1 ; Manzardo, Kyle 2 ; Montez, Collin 3 ; Guerrero, Tyson 1 ; Gouldsmith, Garrett 1 ; Barnum, Brody 1
HBP: Sinatro, Danny 1
