UCLA
37-7, 0
Arizona State
32-12, 0
No. 1 UCLA Launches Seven Homers in 18-3 Rout of ASU
May 04, 2019 | Baseball
PHOENIX, Ariz. โ No. 1 UCLA dominated on both sides of the ball to take home a series-clinching 18-3 win over No. 16 Arizona State on Saturday afternoon at Phoenix Municipal Stadium, as the Bruins set seasons highs in both runs and hits while Jack Ralston shut down the Sun Devils in a masterful seven-inning start.
The Bruins (37-7, 16-4 Pac-12) bashed seven home runs in the contest, a program record that has not been matched since at least 1998. ย UCLA scored in each of the first eight innings of the contest, including an eight-spot in the eighth inning that now represents the most single-inning runs produced by the Bruins this year.
UCLA led 18-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth before Alika Williams spoiled the shutout with a three-run homer for ASU (32-12, 13-10). Still, the 15-run separation represents the Bruins' largest margin of victory in 2019.
The blowout was a stark contrast to Friday night's nailbiter, in which UCLA emerged victorious 3-2. The Bruins have now won 11 straight series to open the year and remain the lone team in Division I that has yet to drop a weekend series.
Three separate Bruins had four-RBI days on Saturday.
Leadoff hitter Garrett Mitchell was 4-6, scored three times, and had a three-run blast to cap the scoring in the eighth. Junior second baseman Chase Strumpf drove in the eventual game-winning run with a grand slam in the fourth inning, the Bruins' lone crooked-number inning until the eighth. Michael Toglia was 2-6 and also had a three-run homer in the eighth.
Several other Bruins had highlight-reel days with the bat.
Freshman catcher Noah Cardenas was 5-5 and scored four runs, finishing a double short of the cycle. He launched the first salvo in UCLA's home run assault with a solo shot in the second, his second of the year. He became the first Bruin since Scott Jarvis in 2016 to produce a five-hit game.
Senior DH Jake Pries blasted solo homers in both the fifth and seventh innings to record UCLA's first individual multi-home run game of the year. He briefly took over the team lead in home runs until Toglia's bomb in the eighth, giving them both nine for the year.
Last but not least, Jake Hirabayashi came off the bench and hit a two-run homer โ his first of 2019 โ to complete the Bruins' three-homer eighth.
The Bruins' 22 hits as a team were the most since an Apr. 12, 2012 contest against Arizona.
As overwhelming as the UCLA offense was, just a fraction of the overall production would have sufficed for the win as junior right-hander Jack Ralston was absolutely dealing on the mound.
Facing one of the more dynamic offenses in the country, Ralston turned in arguably the best start of his career, allowing just three hits over seven scoreless innings while finishing one off his lifetime-best with seven strikeouts.
Similar to last week's outing against Utah, Ralston became downright unhittable after the first inning.
Following a leadoff single by Lyle Lin in the second, Ralston went on to retire 17 consecutive batters, one-upping his previous team-high streak of 14 set last week against the Utes.
That stretch included 1-2-3 frames from the third through sixth innings. His streak finally came to a close after a two-out walk to Lin in the seventh, but Ralston eventually rolled up an inning-ending ground ball from Myles Denson to end the inning unscathed.
Ralston moved to 8-0 on the year after his outing and lowered his ERA to 2.57. He moved into a tie for the league lead in wins.
Junior right-hander Felix Rubi finished off the game for UCLA, getting through a 1-2-3 ninth inning on just six pitches.
The Bruins and Sun Devils finish off the series on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. PT on the Pac-12 Networks.
We heard you guys like home runs, so we put together a super-cut of all 7?? big flies the Bruins bashed today in an 18-3 win at ASU. Today's HR hitters included:
— UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) May 5, 2019
Noah Cardenas
Chase Strumpf
Jake Pries (2)
Michael Toglia
Jake Hirabayashi
Garrett Mitchell#GoBruins | #TouchEmAll pic.twitter.com/N317K75wsw
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ralston, Jack (8-0)
L: Vander Kooi,Boyd (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Cuellar, Kyle 1 ; Moberg, Jake 1
3B: Cardenas, Noah 1
HR: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1 ; Pries, Jake 2 ; Hirabayashi, Jake 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
RBI: Mitchell, Garrett 4 ; Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Strumpf, Chase 4 ; Toglia, Michael 4 ; Pries, Jake 2 ; Hirabayashi, Jake 2 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
SF: Kreidler, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 3 ; Kreidler, Ryan 2 ; Strumpf, Chase 2 ; Stronach, Jack 1 ; Toglia, Michael 1 ; Pries, Jake 3 ; Hirabayashi, Jake 1 ; Moberg, Jake 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 4
SB: Kreidler, Ryan 1
HBP: Pries, Jake 1
Batting:
2B: Torkelson,Spencer 1
HR: Williams,Alika 1
RBI: Williams,Alika 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Hauver,Trevor 1 ; Williams,Alika 1 ; Swift,Drew 1
