UCLA
48-9
Loyola Marymount at UCLA
34-23
UCLA Edged 3-2 by LMU in Regional Battle
June 01, 2019 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Redshirt junior Jack Ralston struck out 10 batters over 6 1/3 innings of three-run ball, but No. 3 seed LMU pulled out a 3-2 win over No. 1 seed UCLA on Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
With the loss, the Bruins (48-9) move into the elimination bracket and must win three consecutive games to advance out of regionals. LMU (34-23) advanced to the regional final and is one win away from reaching super regionals for the first time in program history.
Saturday's game was an extremely close one, as neither team led by more than a run at any time. The two teams battled to a 2-2 tie after three innings, but strong pitching from both sides led to just one run coming acrossย the rest of the way.
LMU catcher Cooper Uhl drove in the game-winning run for the Lions with one out in the seventh inning, finding a hole in the right side with a low liner to score pinch-runner Ryan Ruley from second base. Ruley came into the game for DH Ethan Patrick, who led off the frame with a base hit back up the middle. A sac bunt from center fielder Dylan Hirsch moved Ruley into scoring position, setting up Uhl's go-ahead knock.
The Lions opened the scoring in the first inning, as Trevin Esquerra knocked in a run with a sac fly after LMU had loaded the bases with nobody out on a single, hit-by-pitch, and walk. Ralston did a solid job of limiting the damage to that one run, picking up the first two of his 10 strikeouts to escape the jam.
The Bruins answered right back in the top of the second โ UCLA was the designated away team in the contest โ on a towering solo home run from Jake Pries, his 10th of the year.
UCLA took its first and only lead of the game in the top of the third. The Bruins got a bit of a break in that frame, as Chase Strumpf hit a fly ball to medium-deep right field that was lost in the lights by the LMU right fielder for a triple. Junior first baseman Michael Toglia went on to cash in Strumpf with a sac fly to left-center to make it 2-1 in UCLA's favor.
However, LMU didn't wait long to strike back, taking advantage of a break of its own. Brandon Shearer reached with one out in that inning after Jack Ralston tripped on the rosin bag on the back side of the mound while trying to field a Shearer chopper. The next batter, Esquerra, found the gap in left-center field with a line drive that allowed Shearer to score all the way from first.
Freshman catcher Noah Cardenas had a team-high two hits in four at-bats, raising his season batting average to .420. Ralston reached the 10-K mark for the third time in his last four starts, bringing him over the century mark for the season with 107 punchouts.
"Both teams played extremely well," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "Both pitchers threw the ball extremely well. I'm very proud of Jack (Ralston). Jack stepped up like he's done all season. We just didn't do enough offensively at the end of the day. But great atmosphere, very difficult loss."
In the first game of the day at the Los Angeles Regional, (2) Baylor eliminated (4) Omaha in a 24-6 blowout. Bears catcher Shea Langeliers had three home runs and an NCAA postseason-record 11 RBIs in the win.
First pitch between UCLA and Baylor is set for 12:00 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be televised on ESPN2. The winner of that contest will go on to face LMU at 6:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: FERNANDEZEES, CJ (4-1)
L: Ralston, Jack (11-1)
S: FRASSO, Nick (10)
Batting:
3B: Strumpf, Chase 1
HR: Pries, Jake 1
RBI: Toglia, Michael 1 ; Pries, Jake 1
SH: Pries, Jake 1
SF: Toglia, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Strumpf, Chase 1 ; Pries, Jake 1
CS: McLain, Matt 1
Batting:
2B: ESQUERRA, Trevin 1 ; CHAVEZ, Steven 1
RBI: ESQUERRA, Trevin 2 ; UHL, Cooper 1
SH: HIRSCH, Dylan 1
SF: ESQUERRA, Trevin 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SOGARD, Nick 1 ; SHEARER, Brandon 1 ; RULEY, Ryan 1
SB: SOGARD, Nick 1
HBP: OYAMA, Kenny 1
