The Bruins were led by a freshmen-heavy lineup Wednesday, and their inexperience certainly showed.
No. 11 UCLA baseball (7-1) fell to the NC Dinos 9-4 in an exhibition matchup. The Dinos, a professional team from the Korea Baseball Championship League, are in the middle of spring training in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
The Dinos were fresh off of a 12-2 beatdown of USC on Monday, so compared to its LA counterpart, UCLA was able to keep pace with the Dinos. Although the Bruins were outscored by five, both teams tallied 11 hits.
The Dinos jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first, but UCLA kept battling for the first few innings. Freshman second baseman RJ Teijeiro smashed a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the third – his first hit as a Bruin. Teijeiro, who has had just one plate appearance so far this season, finished the game three-for-four in his first start of the year.
The Bruins continued to pile on runs in the third, as freshman right fielder Garrett Mitchell blooped a single to right, then scored from first on a gap double by sophomore left fielder Jarron Silva. The bats then hit a wall for UCLA, as they were held scoreless for the next five innings.
Despite the slow day on offense, coach John Savage said he was impressed by his young players’ performances.
“I was happy with what I saw with Teijeiro, he had a big night, and Silva had some good at-bats,” Savage said. “I thought it was encouraging. We need those left-handed guys off the bench.”
Mitchell went one-for-five in the game, below his season average of .318. Mitchell started the last six games for the Bruins, but Savage said there’s no cap on how many at-bats he’ll be getting.
“He’s just a young, young player who needs as many at-bats as he can get,” Savage said. “We got what we wanted out of this evening. … It was more about us getting guys opportunities to have at-bats and get on the mound. It was encouraging.”
With everyday leadoff hitter junior outfielder Daniel Amaral on the bench, Mitchell saw his first start in the leadoff spot, something Savage said could be a sign of things to come for the young hitter.
“I think in the future, for sure,” Savage said, when asked if Mitchell could potentially be the leadoff man for UCLA. “I’m not sure if he’s quite ready to handle that night in and night out, but he will be, in some time.”
Mitchell, who left two runners in scoring position, was critical of his performance at the plate.
“There will be times when I’m not going to make the right play, or get down a bunt or get a hit when the situation calls for it,” Mitchell said. “I just need to stay with my approach and stay up the middle.”
Many of the regular starters were relegated to the bench in favor of getting the younger players some reps in an exhibition. One of those players, sophomore first baseman Michael Toglia, said he had no issue with getting the day off.
“It feels fine,” said Toglia. “I just love rooting on my teammates.”
The Bruins had seven pitchers see the mound, three of which were freshmen. Of those first-year pitchers, Holden Powell saw the most success, as he came in to throw a one-two-three ninth inning.
The Bruins take the field this weekend in Minneapolis as part of the Dairy Queen Classic Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge. UCLA will face Illinois on Friday at 9 a.m.