No. 6 UCLA baseball tallies second loss of season, falling to No. 22 TCU
Junior center fielder Garrett Mitchell recorded two hits and two RBIs in No. 6 UCLA baseball’s 8-4 loss to No. 22 TCU on Saturday. (Andy Bao/Daily Bruin)
Baseball
| No. 22 TCU | 8 |
| No. 6 UCLA | 4 |
By Taiyo Keilin
March 7, 2020 9:39 p.m.
The Bruins fell behind in the first inning and never recovered.
No. 6 UCLA baseball (12-2) lost to No. 22 TCU (11-3) on Saturday by a score of 8-4 at Jackie Robinson Stadium in its second game of the Southern California College Baseball Classic. The Horned Frogs scored three times before the Bruins got their first at-bats, and held on to their first-inning lead for the entire game.
“We haven’t had a game like that this year, for the most part, other than you can say Santa Barbara, a little bit,” said coach John Savage. “But it’s going to happen. When you run out there enough, it’s going to happen.”
Five of the first six TCU hitters reached base safely against UCLA’s starter, sophomore right-hander Nick Nastrini. Three of the Horned Frogs came around to score to put the Bruins in a 3-0 hole before they had even grabbed their bats.
In the top of the second inning, Nastrini struck out the leadoff hitter but then gave up a triple to outfielder Sam Thompson, who came around to score on a sacrifice fly, bringing the score to 4-0.
Nastrini managed to escape the second inning without further damage, but didn’t go back out for the third – marking the shortest start by a Bruin pitcher this season.
“We didn’t like what we saw from (Nastrini),” Savage said. “It’s been a rough road for him. He’s had some really good sequences throughout the season, but he wasn’t throwing strikes with really any pitch. Our inability to make pitches and their ability to square up the ball was just a recipe for runs.”
While the Horned Frogs scored in each of the first two innings, the Bruins’ bats were shut out until the bottom of the fourth.
In his second plate appearance, Noah Cardenas came up with runners on the corners but with two out already in the inning. On a 1-2 count, the sophomore catcher hit a line drive to center field, scoring the runner from third to put UCLA on the board.
The next Bruin to step up to the plate was center fielder Garrett Mitchell. The junior from Orange County hit a 1-1 offering high off the wall in right-center field for a two-run triple – the Bruins’ first triple of the season – and UCLA pulled within a run of TCU.
Despite being second on the team in batting average and on-base plus slugging, Mitchell said he’s still working out the kinks early in the season.
“I feel like I’m still trying to figure it out at the plate,” Mitchell said. “(Like assistant) coach (Rex) Peters likes to say, I’m kind of in spring training mode, where I’m not all the way up into myself yet but I’m getting there – little by little.”
But as the Bruins drew closer on the scoreboard, the Horned Frogs came right back, putting up four runs in the top of the fifth inning on a pair of two-run home runs off the bats of first baseman Gene Wood and third baseman Conner Shepherd, extending the Horned Frogs’ lead to five.
“I was just disappointed in how we responded,” Savage said. “We kind of get back in the game, it’s 4-3, but then (freshman right-hander Jared) Karros and (sophomore left-hander Daniel) Colwell go out there and give up four without getting an out, so that was the ballgame. The bullpen was poor.”
Coming into the matchup against TCU, UCLA’s relievers had thrown over 45 innings and recorded a 1.14 ERA.
The Bruins scored another run in the bottom of the fifth on a double play, but the tally would be their last run of the game.
Sophomore shortstop Matt McLain – UCLA’s hits, home runs and RBIs leader – played in his first game in a week, as he was recovering from an illness that kept him out of the lineup against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday and Vanderbilt on Friday.
“Earlier this week, I had a few of the worst days of my life – I didn’t move,” McLain said. “I got the chance to run around in (batting practice last night) and got a workout in, so I was ready to go today.”
In his return, McLain singled twice, drew a walk and scored a run.
“I was impressed (with McLain),” Savage said. “He’s really been in bed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and most of Thursday. It’s good to have him back and solidify (the shortstop) position.”
UCLA has lost two out of its last three games and will look to finish the weekend on a winning note as it travels across town Sunday to face USC. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Dedeaux Field.
