UCLA
5-0
Saint Mary's
2-3
No. 8 UCLA Blanks St. Mary's, 5-0
February 21, 2020 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ Junior right-hander Zach Pettway delivered arguably the strongest start of his collegiate career to lead No. 8 UCLA to a 5-0 win over St. Mary's on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Long Beach, Calif. native surrendered just three hits while striking out a career-high 13 over 6 2/3 innings, picking up his first win of the year. He struck out at least one batter in each inning he pitched, and struck out the side in three consecutive frames (second to fourth).
UCLA (5-0) has now allowed just four runs over its first five games of the year, and has held its opponent to one run or fewer in four straight contests.
The Gaels (2-3) rarely threatened against Pettway, with all three of their hits off him coming with two outs. At one point during his run of striking out the side, he fanned five consecutive batters.ย
"I think that Zach clearly came out and set the tone," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "Throwing a ton of strikes, you see he's completely healthy, and his fastball has gotten much better. It's really fun to see a guy who's worked so hard work his way back. It's comforting having that sort of kid out there competing for you on a Friday night."
Meanwhile, the Bruins scratched out just enough offense to pick up the win, opening the scoring in the third and then putting up a two-run frame their next time up.
Freshman second baseman Michael Curialle had the big hit of the opening rally in the third, hooking a 2-2 slider down the third base line and into the left field corner for a run-scoring double.
UCLA rallied for a pair of runs on three hits off SMC starter Carlos Lomeli in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead. Redshirt freshman first baseman JT Schwartz started that frame by ripping a double down the right field line for a leadoff double.
He would score moments later on a wild pitch, but UCLA continued to rally with junior DH Jarron Silva reaching on a hit-by-pitch, moving to second on a Noah Cardenas infield single, and then scoring ย on an RBI knock from sophomore third baseman Jake Moberg.
With the three-run lead, UCLA's bullpen continued its red-hot start to the season. A trio of relievers โ Michael Townsend, Kyle Mora, and Holden Powell โ teamed up to hold off the Gaels over the final 2 1/3 innings of the game.
With the combined effort, Bruin relievers have now gone 17 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing a run to start the 2020 season.
UCLA strung together three singles in a four-batter span to add two runs in the bottom of the eighth off the SMC bullpen.ย
Schwartz and Cuellar led the Bruin offense with three hits apiece. Schwartz has hit safely in all five games so far this season and has multiple hits in three. Moberg went 2-3 to record his first career multi-hit game.
UCLA and St. Mary's will play game two of the three-game series on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pettway, Zach (1-0)
L: LOMELI, Carlos (0-2)
Batting:
2B: CAMPOS, Christopher 1
Batting:
2B: Curialle, Michael 1 ; Schwartz, JT 1
RBI: Curialle, Michael 1 ; Silva, Jarron 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 1 ; Moberg, Jake 1
SH: Prendiz, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Schwartz, JT 2 ; Cuellar, Kyle 1 ; Silva, Jarron 1 ; Moberg, Jake 1
HBP: Silva, Jarron 1
