No. 2 Bruins Top Oklahoma State 6-3

Recap, photo courtesy of UCLA

LOS ANGELES – No. 2 UCLA shook off an early 3-1 deficit and had five separate players drive in a run to defeat Oklahoma State 6-3 on Saturday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

The contest was the second of the weekend for the Bruins (10-3) as part of the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic. The weekend concludes on Sunday as UCLA faces crosstown rival USC at Chavez Ravine starting at 3:00 p.m. in a Pac-12 Networks-televised game. OSU and Michigan will play a neutral game at Dodger Stadium on Sunday morning, with first pitch scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

The Bruins trailed by a margin of 3-1 after four innings on Saturday, as the Cowboys (8-5) plated single runs in three of their first four offensive innings. However, UCLA would go on to outscore OSU 5-0 the rest of the way, tying the game with a two-run fifth and then going ahead for good with another crooked number in the sixth. 

UCLA's bullpen was rock solid after grabbing the lead, tossing four scoreless innings combined.

A day after coming up with a clutch, bases-loaded triple against Michigan, junior first baseman Michael Toglia had another big hit for the Bruins on Saturday, lining an opposite field single in the sixth inning to plate a pair of runners and tie the game at 3-3. 

UCLA capitalized on that momentum in the very next inning, putting up another two-spot to take the lead permanently. Junior DH Jack Stronach started the rally with an infield single, then moved into scoring position on a sac bunt from Kevin Kendall. 

The next batter, pinch-hitter Jarron Silva, drove in the game-winning run by hooking a first-pitch change-up from OSU reliever Jake Lyons into the right field corner for an RBI double. Moments later, sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell doubled down the left field line to trade places with Silva and push UCLA's lead to two. 

Junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler capped the game's scoring with a solo shot over the left field netting in the bottom of the seventh. The homer, his team-leading third of the year, extended his season-opening hitting streak to 13 games. 

Freshman righty Jack Filby earned the win after tossing a scoreless sixth frame. He inherited one runner with nobody out, and went on to allow just an infield single during his inning of work. 

Junior righty Ryan Garcia made his season debut with a shutout seventh inning. After allowing the first two batters he faced to reach, Garcia bounced back to retire the next three in order. First, he made a nice defensive play on a sac bunt attempt to retire the lead runner at third, then proceeded to strike out the final two batters of the inning.

Junior righty Kyle Mora and sophomore righty Holden Powell followed with drama-free innings to seal the win, as the duo combined to go six-up, six-down in the eighth and ninth innings. Powell notched his third save of the year in as many opportunities. 

Redshirt junior Jack Ralston received a no-decision after allowing five earned over his five-plus inning start. He surrendered just five hits and walked a pair while striking out six. His best inning was the fifth, as he went 1-2-3 including a Backwards-K of Christian Funk for the third out. 

Toglia and Strumpf each went 2-3 to pace the UCLA offense on Saturday. Strumpf also scored a team-high two runs.

"Overall, it was a good Bruin offense today," said UCLA head coach John Savage. "Pries has been hot which allowed us to separate Mike and Chase a little bit and take a little heat off them. They've responded in pretty good fashion. Chase had a couple hits today and Mike had that huge two-run single. We know we're capable of being a good offensive team, it's just taking a little time, but we're pitching and playing good defense which helps things."

Lyons was tagged with the loss for OSU after surrendering four earned over 3 2/3 relief innings. Starter Jensen Elliott gave up a pair in 4 1/3 innings, but pitched out of bases-loaded jams in both the second and third innings. 

For tickets to the 2019 Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic, click here.