UCLA
48-8
Omaha at UCLA
31-23-1
Bruins Rally in Middle Innings to Defeat Omaha 5-2
May 31, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ All-American right-hander Ryan Garcia pitched into the ninth inning and allowed just one run as No. 1 UCLA opened play in the Los Angeles Regional by defeating No. 4 seed Omaha 5-2 on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bruins (48-8) move to the winner's bracket after the victory, and will face Loyola Marymount (33-23) on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. No. 3 seed LMU upset No. 2 seed Baylor by a score of 3-1 in the regional's opening game.
UCLA trailed 1-0 at the midway point of the game, but posted crooked numbers in back-to-back innings starting in the fifth to take a 5-1 lead. The Mavericks rallied for a run in the top of the ninth to chase Garcia, but junior righty Kyle Mora came in and retired both batters he faced to seal the victory.
Garcia, who allowed just one earned run on five hits while striking out six, received the win to move to 10-0 on the year. He and Jack Ralston, who is 11-0, are the first pair of Bruin teammates to become 10-game winners in the same season since Adam Plutko and Nick Vander Tuig in 2013.
Garcia and his counterpart, Omaha righty Payton Kinney, engaged in a pitcher's duel in the early innings as Noah Cardenas's infield single in the third represented the lone baserunner for either team over the opening three innings.
Omaha broke up that streak in the top of the fourth with a leadoff home run from third baseman Breyden Eckhout, who sent a 2-2 pitch from Garcia over the left field fence for the game's first run.
After being limited to one hit over the first four innings, UCLA broke out for four singles and three runs in the fifth.
Junior left fielder Jack Stronach started the rally with a sharp base hit to right. From there, the Bruins quickly loaded the bases after back-to-back infield singles from Jeremy Ydens and Cardenas. Freshman third baseman Matt McLain cashed in one of those runs with a sac fly to left, making it 1-1 game. Of note, Cardenas was able to tag from first on the play and move into scoring position, which would turn out to be critical minutes later.
Sophomore center fielder Garrett Mitchell then came through with the biggest hit of the rally, stroking a base hit to right that plated both Ydens and Cardenas for the go-ahead and eventual game-winning runs.
The Bruins added a pair of insurance in their next offensive inning, making Kinney pay for a leadoff walk to Chase Strumpf after senior DH Jake Pries and Stronach ripped back-to-back doubles to plate two runs.
"We didn't do a lot offensively, but eventually we got to [Kinney] a little bit, said UCLA head coach John Savage. "Put up a three and then a two. We feel a little fortunate to come out of this with a win, but at the same timeโif you followed us all seasonโwe do know how to win the game in the middle innings and toward the end. And I thought the game played itself out a little bit."
In contrast to the first six innings of the game, where the only hit he allowed was the solo home run, Garcia had to buckle down and get himself out of danger in the late innings.
UNO got at least one runner into scoring position with less than two outs in both the seventh and eighth innings, but Garcia stood tall both times. In the seventh, he induced a harmless fly ball to left from Thomas DeBonville before blowing a fastball by Jack Lombardi for an inning-ending strikeout. Similarly, he stranded a runner at second in the eighth by getting Eckhout to roll over to third before ringing up Keli Krumwiede to close the frame.
Both Stronach and Cardenas finished with a team-high two hits for the Bruins. Seven of nine starters reached base over the course of the game.
Kinney dropped to 11-2 after receiving the loss for UNO. He allowed five earned runs but struck out eight batters in six innings of work. Reliever Grant Suponchick gave up just one hit in two relief innings. The Mavericks were led offensively by Eckhout and Brett Bonar, who was 2-4 in the five-hole.
Before UCLA and LMU face off on Saturday, Omaha and Baylor will play each other in an elimination game. That contest is scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start. Both Saturday games of the Los Angeles Regional will appear on ESPN3/WatchESPN.
Check out the highlights from tonight's 5-2 regional-opening win over Omaha!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/9FsWNeRtD8
โ UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) June 1, 2019
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Garcia, Ryan (10-0)
L: Payton Kinney (11-2)
S: Mora, Kyle (1)
Batting:
2B: Ben Palensky 1
HR: Breyden Eckhout 1
RBI: Breyden Eckhout 1 ; Brett Bonar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Breyden Eckhout 1 ; Parker Smejkal 1
Batting:
2B: Pries, Jake 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1
RBI: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Pries, Jake 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; McLain, Matt 1
SF: McLain, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Pries, Jake 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Ydens, Jeremy 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
