UCLA Baseball Shuts Out St. John’s, 9-0, as Bruins Look for a Sweep

UCLA earned the series win with a 9-0 shutout of St. John’s yesterday. While the Bruin bats certainly came alive, the Bruin pitchers also did a nice job by holding the Red Storm to just three hits, two walks and only one runner advanced past first base.

Jack Ralston struck out seven over six innings for the win. Nate Hadley threw a perfect seventh while Michael Townsend had a scoreless eighth and Nick Nastrini struck out the side in the ninth to end the game.

Meanwhile, Michael Toglia led off a four-run second inning for UCLA with a single to center. Matt McLain followed with a triple that scored Toglia. That right there would prove to be the game-winning RBI, but the Bruins weren’t done in the second. Jake Pries came to the plate and hit a double down the right field line to score McLain. Garrett Mitchell sacrificed Pries over to third and Ryan Kriedler drove him in with a triple to right. Freshman catcher Noah Cardenas capped the UCLA rally by driving in Kriedler.

The Bruins added an insurance run in the sixth. Kriedler started thing off with a double and Cardenas moved him over to third on a sacrifice. Jeremy Ydens then singled to center to make it 5-0, UCLA.

In the seventh, UCLA added four more runs, but it was how they did it that counts. Three different St. John’s pitchers issued a total of five walks and Ydens was hit by a pitch. Kevin Kendall’s single which scored Kriedler was the only Bruin hit in the inning as the Red Storm bullpen collapsed. That gave UCLA a 9-0 lead and that’s how it ended.

This afternoon, freshman Jesse Bergin makes his first collegiate start as the Bruins look to break out their brooms and sweep St. John’s all the way back to New York. The Red Storm counter with junior lefty Joe LaSorsa.

The is your UCLA baseball vs. St. John’s game two open thread. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.


Go Bruins!