UCLA needed a clutch performance to win the game, and two freshmen were up to the task.
Freshman pitcher Holden Powell pitched three shutout innings to close the game and freshman infielder RJ Teijeiro drove in the game-winning run.
No. 17 UCLA baseball (13-4, 3-0 Pac-12) came back to defeat Washington State (4-12, 0-3) 5-4 to earn the series sweep over the Cougars in their first weekend of Pac-12 play.
Down 4-3 with two outs and the bases loaded in the eighth inning, coach John Savage brought in Teijeiro to pinch-hit for sophomore catcher Will McInerny. On a two-strike pitch, Teijeiro blooped a two-run RBI single to right field, giving the Bruins a 5-4 lead. It was the first hit of his career.
“I was just trying to slow the game down,” Teijeiro said. “Coach (Bryant) Ward’s been talking to us a lot about going at your own tempo and not letting the game speed up on you. I saw it up, (the pitcher) made a mistake, and I was able to get a good barrel on it.”
The situation called for someone who could earn a walk to tie the game, and Savage saw the left-handed Teijeiro as a viable option against Washington State’s right-handed pitcher.
“He doesn’t have a whole lot to show for. But (this season) he’s got four walks, no strikeouts, and his on-base percentage is now a 0.667,” Savage said. “He’s a good hitter, he sees the ball, and it was a very experienced looking at-bat. It was a memorable at-bat.”
UCLA used five pitchers through six innings before Savage turned to Powell to close out the game. Powell earned his second win of the season, pitching the final three innings with one hit allowed.
“I pretty much have the same approach every inning,” Powell said. “I just know my teammates trust me and I just really (have) trust in our system.”
The Bruin pitching staff was short-handed following the loss of junior Jon Olsen last Sunday and sophomore Ryan Garcia, who suffered an oblique strain Wednesday against Cal State Northridge. Savage opted to start a pitcher who had not thrown a pitch for the Bruins in the three years he’d been with the program.
Jack Ralston, who redshirted his first year and didn’t play in 2017, took the mound for UCLA. The 6-foot-6-inch sophomore went 3 1/3 innings deep, allowing four hits and four runs with no strikeouts.
“He threw three shutout (innings) against Northridge in the rain game. It’s not in the books. He’s like the secret weapon,” Savage said. “I thought he threw the ball well again today.”
Ralston allowed two singles in the second inning to let in the first run of the game, but UCLA answered in the bottom half of the frame. Junior center fielder Daniel Amaral hit a double and was then brought home on a base hit from sophomore shortstop Ryan Kreidler. After Kreidler advanced to second, sophomore right fielder Jeremy Ydens singled him home for a second run.
UCLA then took a 3-1 lead on a home run by sophomore designated hitter Jack Stronach. The Bruins began the year with junior Jake Pries and sophomore Kyle Cuellar primarily holding the designated hitter role, but Stronach has come alive in his past six games, batting .333 with five runs and five RBIs.
In the fourth, Washington State homered and then put two men on base, prompting Savage to make a pitching change. Three more pitchers would rotate in to relieve, but would give up two more runs in the process.
UCLA also had to make adjustments in the outfield, as Ydens cut his hand trying to catch a ball.
“I think he has some stitches in his hand. So we didn’t want to take Ydens out, but he was bleeding,” Savage said. “Then we pinch hit Cuellar (and) moved (him) to first and moved (sophomore first baseman Michael Toglia) to right, where he played last year.”
With no Tuesday games scheduled for the next two weeks, UCLA will get an entire week of rest before they take the field again. The Bruins will face Arizona State in a series at Jackie Robinson Stadium, beginning Friday at 7 p.m.
“We are a mashed unit … to say the least,” Savage said. “Having said that I think we persevered this weekend. We did what we needed to do. We battled back from being down in all three games. It showed a lot of character.”