UCLA
12-2
TCU
11-3
Bruins Fall to TCU, 8-4
March 07, 2020 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The No. 2-ranked UCLA baseball team dropped an 8-4 decision to No. 18 TCU on Saturday afternoon in the second game of the Southern California College Baseball Classic for both teams.
The Bruins (12-2) surrendered three runs in the first and trailed 4-0 in the second inning, and were never able to make up that deficit. TCU (11-3) had its lead cut to one at one point, but responded with a pair of two-run home runs in the top of the fifth to pull away.
The loss was the first of the season for UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium, as the team had won nine straight games on its home field to start the year.
Offensive standouts for the Bruins included junior center fielder Garrett Mitchell (2-5, two RBIs) and sophomore shortstop Matt McLain (2-4), who was back in the lineup after missing UCLA's last two games.
Mitchell was instrumental in UCLA's biggest offensive inning, helping the Bruins post a three-spot in the fourth.
That rally was keyed by three singles earlier in the inning โ including a hit-and-run base hit through a vacant right side by Mikey Perez and a run-scoring knock from Noah Cardenas โ before Mitchell unloaded on a 1-1 offering from TCU starter Charles King and sent it off the top of the wall in right-center field for a two-run triple.
It was the first three-bagger of the season for Mitchell, who set a UCLA single-season record with 12 triples in 2019.
TCU was led by second baseman Gray Rodgers (3-4) and third baseman Connor Shepherd (2-5, three RBIs). Bothย Shepherd and first baseman Gene Wood (2-4, two runs) recorded two-run homers to right field in TCU's four-run fifth.
King allowed four earned runs and 10 hits but received the win to improve to 2-1. Sophomore lefty Austin Krob tossed 3 1/3 scoreless to close out the game and earn his first save of the year.
UCLA was led on the mound by freshman Jake Saum and sophomore Sean Mullen, who each turned in two innings of scoreless relief. Starter Nick Nastrini was tagged with the loss to fall to 2-1. He allowed four earned and struck out one in two-plus innings.
The Bruins conclude the Southern California College Baseball Classic with a Sunday matchup against crosstown rival USC. First pitch from Dedeaux Field on the campus of USC is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: King, Charles (2-1)
L: Nastrini, Nick (2-1)
S: Krob, Austin (1)
Batting:
2B: Wood, Gene 1
3B: Thompson, Sam 1
HR: Wood, Gene 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 1
RBI: Humphreys, Zach 2 ; Wood, Gene 2 ; Rodgers, Gray 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 3
SF: Humphreys, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Sam 2 ; Humphreys, Zach 2 ; Wood, Gene 2 ; Rodgers, Gray 1 ; Shepherd, Conner 1
SB: Humphreys, Zach 1 ; Wood, Gene 1
CS: Thompson, Sam 1 ; Sacco, Tommy 1
HBP: Thompson, Sam 1
Batting:
3B: Mitchell, Garrett 1
RBI: Mitchell, Garrett 2 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: McLain, Matt 1 ; Cuellar, Kyle 1 ; Perez, Mikey 1 ; Cardenas, Noah 1
