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Last night, UCLA baseball reached a milestone by clinching the Pac-12 title. That earns the Bruins the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, even though that was something that was never in doubt due to the Bruins’ record. Tonight, UCLA looks to win the series over the Ducks starting at 6 pm PT.
In last night’s game, UCLA got on the scoreboard first in the second inning. After Michael Toglia struck out, Jeremy Ydens walked and Jack Stronach singled to move Ydens to second. Noah Cardenas then brought Ydens home with an RBI single to left field to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Bruins added another run. Ryan Kreidler started the inning off with a ground-rule double to left. Kreidler moved to third after Chase Strumpf flew out to center. He made it 2-0 when Jake Pries doubled to left.
Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as the Ducks tied the game in the bottom half of the third and the game stayed tied until the top of the eighth. That’s when Pries singled down the left field line. With Toglia up next, John Savage opt to pinch run for Pries, but it wasn’t really necessary because Toglia followed with a two-run homer to left, giving UCLA a 4-2 lead.
UCLA starter Ryan Garcia pitched seven innings and held the Ducks to just those two runs on three hits and three walks. Kyle Mora pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Holden Powell threw a perfect ninth for the save. Garcia finished the regular season undefeated with a record of 9-0.
Tonight, the teams meet again at PK Park as the Bruins look to win the series. If they can win tonight’s game, they will have won every weekend series this season. Tonight’s game will air on both Pac-12 Networks National and Los Angeles.
This is your UCLA vs. Oregon baseball game two open thread.
Go Bruins!!!