UCLA
6-0
Saint Mary's
2-3
Bruins Defeat Gaels, 7-1, to Clinch Series
February 22, 2020 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 8-ranked UCLA baseball team secured a series win over St. Mary's with a 7-1 triumph on Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
With the victory, the Bruins (6-0) have now won 19 consecutive regular season series on their home field dating back to 2017. St. Mary's dropped to 2-4 with the loss.
UCLA was led on offense by junior left fielder Pat Caulfield and senior DH Will McInerny, who had two RBIs apiece.
McInerny scorched a fly ball off the top of the left field wall with the bases loaded – just missing out on a grand slam – to knock in a pair as part of a four-run fourth while Caulfield extended the Bruins' lead to six with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth, his first roundtripper at the Division I level.
Junior right-hander and Cypress College transfer Adrian Chaidez received the victory for the Bruins, his first of the year. He was the first man out of the bullpen in what was another standout effort by Bruin relievers, who combined to throw 5 1/3 shutout innings with just three hits against. UCLA ended up stranding 12 Gael baserunners in the contest.
The Bruin pen has now gone 22 2/3 consecutive innings without a run to start the 2020 campaign.
"I thought we responded pretty well to a lot of things initially, but it wasn't a really clean game," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "Two-out walks, we lose a ball in the sky, kicked a ground ball, hit a couple guys. So we were fortunate that we pitched out of some problems and had enough good at-bats to score some runs."
Chaidez got the last out of the fourth – getting UCLA out of a two-on jam – and then went on to strike out the side in the fifth in his most extensive action to date on the young season.
Sophomore Sean Mullen, junior Michael Townsend, sophomore Jack Filby, senior Kyle Mora, and senior Felix Rubi teamed up to hold off the Gaels the rest of the way.
Mullen got into a bit of trouble in the sixth as SMC loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch, walk, and error, but the Bruins were able to twist a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning without any damage.
Townsend kept up his hot start to the season with an eight-pitch, 1-2-3 seventh inning. Mora got the Bruins out of a two-out, one-on jam by picking up back-to-back strikeouts to end the eighth.
St. Mary's threatened in the ninth, loading the bases on a trio of singles. However, Rubi ultimately bounced back to induce a game-ending 6-4-3 double play to preserve the scoreless streak for the bullpen. Only one of three hits surrendered by Rubi was well-struck, with the other two coming on a fly ball that got lost in the lights and a flair to shallow right-center.
SMC opened the game's scoring with a two-out rally in the top of the third that yielded a run. UCLA answered right back in the bottom half of the frame with a two-out rally of its own, as junior center fielder Garrett Mitchell lined a double into the right-center field gap before scoring on a Michael Curialle RBI single.
The Bruins opened up the game with a four-run fourth. In that frame, UCLA loaded the bases with nobody out on two walks and a Jake Moberg base hit. Mikey Perez followed with a four-pitch base on balls to walk in a run, then McInerny hammered a 2-0 fastball off the left field to bring in two more runs. UCLA added another run before the inning was over as the Gaels opted for a double play with nobody out instead of trying for the force at home.
Caulfield made it three straight scoring innings for the Bruins in their next ABs, pulling a 3-2 offering just inside the left field foul pole for a two-run shot.
Starting pitcher Nick Nastrini surrendered one earned over a 3 2/3 inning outing. He walked a pair and had five strikeouts.
The Bruins and Gaels conclude their series on Sunday afternoon with a 1:00 p.m. matinee. Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week nominee Jesse Bergin (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is slated to take the ball for the Bruins.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Chaidez, Adrian (1-0)
L: MADRIGAL, Ty (0-2)
Batting:
2B: CAMPOS, Christopher 1
RBI: DIAZ, Gio 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TALAMANTE, Jacob 1
HBP: GIOSSO, Gabe 1 ; CAMPOS, Christopher 1
Batting:
2B: Mitchell, Garrett 1
HR: Caulfield, Pat 1
RBI: Curialle, Michael 1 ; Caulfield, Pat 2 ; Perez, Mikey 1 ; McInerny, Will 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell, Garrett 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 2 ; Moberg, Jake 1 ; Caulfield, Pat 2 ; Perez, Mikey 1
HBP: Cardenas, Noah 1
