(LOS ANGELES)-Despite an exceptional performance from starting pitcher Payton Kinney, the Omaha Mavericks suffered a loss at the hands of UCLA in their first ever NCAA Regional.
Omaha, who came into the game as a #4 seed, held their own against #1 seed and the top team in the nation, UCLA
Kinney and UCLA starter Ryan Garcia engaged in a good old-fashioned pitchers duel from the get-go. Kinney retired 12 of his first 14 batters while Garcia retired the first nine he saw. Both pitchers seemed poised to go the distance.
The Mavs struck first in the fourth inning off of Garcia thanks to a solo home run from Breyden Eckhout. For Eckhout, it was his third home run of the year (His first since March 26th) giving Omaha an early lead against the Bruins.
An uneasy tension set in at Jackie Robinson Stadium as Kinney continued to pitch well for Omaha. He held the Bruins to just one hit and no runs heading into the fifth inning.
UCLA began to get comfortable as they finally started to put a dent in Kinney. The Bruins scored three runs on four singles in the fifth inning to give them their first lead, and more importantly, momentum.
Omaha couldn’t respond, grounding into a double-play with runners on first and second in the top half of the sixth. UCLA proceeded to add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, due to a pair of RBI doubles from Jake Pries and Jack Stronach.
It ended up being the last inning for Kinney, officially going six innings, giving up five runs on seven hits. The most impressive stat of the night was Kinney’s eight strikeouts against one of the premier squads in the nation. To compare, Kinney’s counterpart Garcia threw 8.1 innings and struck out six.
Omaha did get back a run in the ninth inning after a RBI single from Brett Bonar, he finished 2-4 at the plate. However, it was not enough as UCLA closer Kyle Mora came in to get the last two outs and the save.
The Bruins held on for the 5-2 victory.
Despite dropping the game, Omaha proved that they can compete against top-tier teams, as the Mavs really impressed UCLA Head Coach, John Savage.
“That didn’t look like a one seed against a four seed. Omaha played well,” Savage said, “and that Kinney is a really good pitcher…he knows what he’s doing.”
Tasked with working out of the losers bracket, Omaha now sets its sights on the Baylor Bears. Baylor lost Friday 3-1 to Loyola Marymount in a game where Baylor really struggled at the plate. It’ll be up to sophomore starter, Joey Machado, to keep the Bears in check.
UCLA will take on Loyola Marymount tomorrow following the Baylor and Omaha game at 4 p.m. CT tomorrow from Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles, Cali. The game can be heard live on mavradio.fm.
