UCLA
4-0
Loyola Marymount
2-2
Bruins Toss Another Two-Hitter in 10-1 Rout of LMU
February 18, 2020 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ No. 8 UCLA threw a combined two-hitter for the second consecutive game en route to a 10-1 triumph over visiting Loyola Marymount on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Bruin (4-0) offense put the pressure on early in the non-conference tilt, batting around and scoring five runs in the bottom of the first.
That margin proved to be more than enough for starting pitcher Jared Karros and the UCLA bullpen, which limited the Lions (2-2) to just one run and two hits over the course of the game.
UCLA went on to put up crooked numbers in the second and fifth innings to put the game on ice.
Tuesday's game followed a similar script from the last two games of the UC Riverside series, in which the Bruins scored multiple runs in the first inning en route to blowout wins.
"It was a complete win from top to bottom," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "We put a bunch of pressure on them in the first, won some good counts, used the middle of the field, put some quality at-bats together. I thought it was a pretty complete game."
Karros, the son of former UCLA and Los Angeles Dodgers standout Eric Karros, tossed five innings of one-run ball to record his first career win. The freshman scattered two hits, walked none, and struck out six in the 74-pitch start.
The Mira Costa HS product started his outing with a 1-2-3 top of the first. LMU struck its one blow of the game in the second โ Dylan Dennis doubled and later scored on an RBI single from Matt Piotrowski โ but Karros responded by sending down eight consecutive Lion batters.
That streak was broken up by an error โ UCLA's first of the year โ in the fifth inning, but Karros teamed up with sophomore catcher Noah Cardenas to end the inning shortly thereafter, with Karros striking out cleanup hitter Cooper Uhl and Cardenas back-picking the runner off at first base for a double play.
Redshirt freshman first baseman JT Schwartz (3-5, two runs) led the Bruins in hits on Tuesday, while senior left fielder Kyle Cuellar (2-2, three RBIs) and junior center fielder Garrett Mitchell (2-4, two runs) each had key doubles.
Mitchell sparked the first-inning rally with a leadoff single back up the middle, starting a streak that saw seven consecutive Bruins reach base to start the game. The Bruins plated three runs off LMU starter Josh Robins โ on singles from Matt McLain and Noah Cardenas and a bases-loaded walk to Cuellar โ and chased him from the game before he was able to make an out. Jarron Silva (walk) and Jake Moberg (sac fly) also drove in runs before the rally was extinguished. LMU threw 50 pitches in that inning alone.
Cuellar had the big hit of the second-inning rally, scorching a fly ball off the base of the wall in right-center field for a two-run double. The Bruins rallied โ with the help of two LMU errors โ for three runs in the fifth inning to complete the game's scoring.
Junior right fielder Jordan Prendiz notched his first career hit in the win, pushing a bunt to the right side in the third inning.
UCLA's bullpen continued its early season dominance in the late innings, as four Bruin relievers combined to throw four frames of hitless shutout relief. ย Sean Mullen took the sixth and allowed just a walk, while junior Adrian Chaidez didn't allow a hit in the seventh in his Division I debut. Sophomore Jack Filby and senior Felix Rubi followed with three-up, three-down frames to close out the contest.
The Bruins continue a nine-game, season-opening homestand this weekend by hosting WCC-member St. Mary's for a three-game series starting at 6:00 p.m. on Friday night.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Karros, Jared (1-0)
L: ROBINS, Josh (0-1)
Batting:
2B: DENNIS, Dylan 1
RBI: PIOTROWSKI, Matthew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: DENNIS, Dylan 1
CS: PIOTROWSKI, Matthew 1
Batting:
2B: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Cuellar, Kyle 1
RBI: Curialle, Michael 1 ; McLain, Matt 2 ; Cardenas, Noah 1 ; Cuellar, Kyle 3 ; Silva, Jarron 1 ; Moberg, Jake 1
SF: McLain, Matt 1 ; Moberg, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Curialle, Michael 2 ; McLain, Matt 2 ; Schwartz, JT 2 ; Cardenas, Noah 1 ; Moberg, Jake 1
SB: Silva, Jarron 1
