Baseball to host Michigan with College World Series berth on the line
Junior second baseman Chase Strumpf helped carry No. 1 UCLA baseball out of last weekend’s regional with two three-run home runs in the final two games against Loyola Marymount. Strumpf hit .284 in the regular season with seven homers. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
By Matthew Kenney
June 6, 2019 1:51 a.m.
To punch their ticket to Omaha, the Bruins’ final task is a familiar one: win a three-game series.
No. 1 seed UCLA baseball (51-9, 24-5 Pac-12) will host Michigan (44-19, 16-7 Big Ten) for the NCAA Super Regional this weekend with a chance to earn the program’s sixth College World Series berth and the first since 2013. The Bruins have yet to lose a series this year, most recently winning back-to-back games against Loyola Marymount to cap off regionals.
The Wolverines played the Bruins at Jackie Robinson Stadium as part of the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic on March 8. Michigan got out to a 6-0 lead through the third inning and ended up winning 7-5, handing UCLA one of just five home losses this season.
“We are familiar with (Michigan), we watched them at Dodger Stadium against Oklahoma State on that Sunday – (we’ve) watched all kinds of videos,” said coach John Savage. “They’re road-tested, they came out to the West and played, so they’re familiar with this region out here, so we expect them to be very good.”
In advancing to their first super regional since 2007, Michigan scored 40 runs in four games, including a 17-6 rout of Creighton on Monday. First baseman Jimmy Kerr led the charge for Michigan, hitting four home runs and winning the Most Outstanding Player award for the Corvallis regional.
“We know their staff is pretty good, offense is pretty good, so it’s just an all-around good team,” said junior second baseman Chase Strumpf. “We know after last time, they beat us, so there’s going to be a little bit of a revenge feeling for sure.”
The Bruins’ bats also came alive towards the end of regionals, hitting eight home runs in their last three games. Strumpf hit the final homer of the weekend – a three-run shot that gave UCLA a 6-1 lead – and then earned the Most Outstanding Player award for the Los Angeles regional.
Junior first baseman Michael Toglia also had a strong showing at the plate, batting .375 with two home runs in five games. His five RBIs pushed his season total to 61, surpassing his previous season-high of 58.
Toglia tallied three of those RBIs in the seventh inning of the Bruins’ loss to the Wolverines earlier this year, when he hit a three-run triple that cut the deficit to one run.
The upcoming games could be Toglia and Strumpf’s last as Bruins, since both players were selected in the MLB Draft on Monday along with junior right-hander Ryan Garcia.
UCLA, coming off a three-game stretch in which the Bruins’ starting pitchers lasted an average of 2.43 innings, will hand the ball to Garcia on Friday. Garcia has pitched at least four innings in all 12 of his starts this season and he went 8 1/3 deep against Omaha May 31.
Redshirt junior right-hander Jack Ralston will take the mound Saturday, a week after he was dealt his first loss of the season.
“There’s full trust every time (Garcia and Ralston) go out there,” said senior left fielder Jake Pries. “When you have Garcia going out there, it’s a calm, collected confidence that just breathes on our team when he’s out there on the mound.”
The Bruins will also welcome back sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell and freshman right-hander Nick Nastrini after they were unavailable for Monday’s game due to injury.
First pitch will be at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, as well as Sunday if necessary.
