UCLA
21-6, 0
Stanford
20-3, 0
No. 1 UCLA Drops Tight Contest to No. 2 Stanford, 3-2
April 05, 2019 | Baseball
STANFORD, Calif. – No. 1 UCLA lost its series opener on Friday night at No. 2 Stanford in heartbreaking fashion, as the Bruins fought back to tie the game in the top of the ninth before the Cardinal walked off via a Will Matthiessen base hit for a 3-2 win at Sunken Diamond.
Trailing 2-0 heading into the ninth, UCLA (21-6, 7-3 Pac-12) broke through to tie the game off Stanford (20-3, 7-0) All-American closer Jack Little.
Junior first baseman Michael Toglia led it off by working a full-count walk, then moved up into scoring position moments later as pinch-hitter Jack Filby banged a single into right field to give UCLA two on with one out.
Junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler followed with the key hit of the rally, stroking a double into the left field corner to plate Toglia and put pinch-runner Mikey Perez 90 feet from home.
The next batter, pinch-hitter RJ Teijeiro, did his job by lofting a ball to left-center field, but Stanford's two outfielders in the area had a miscommunication and the would-be sac fly instead dropped for an RBI single to tie it up at 2-2.
After that knock, Stanford summoned lefty Austin Weiermiller into the game, and he proceeded to escape the jam without any further damage.
In the bottom half of the frame, the Cardinal managed to load the bases with two outs against Kyle Mora. Down to their last out, Matthiessen lined a base hit into shallow field to bring in Christian Robinson and end the game.
Stanford had opened an early 1-0 lead after Brandon Wulff hit a solo home run off UCLA starter Zach Pettway in the first inning.
From then on, Pettway was fantastic, holding Stanford off the board until Kyle Stowers had an RBI double with two outs in the eighth. He ended his day with a line of 7.2 innings pitched, eight hits and two earned runs allowed, two walks, and five strikeouts.
He retired seven straight between the fourth and sixth innings, including a two-strikeout fourth and a 1-2-3 fifth.
Kreidler, who was 2-4 with the bat, made a great defensive play as part of that fifth inning, diving to his left to snag a ball in the 5-6 gap before delivering a strike to first. He made another diving play, this time to the bag side, to end the first inning.
Sophomore shortstop Kevin Kendall also had a solid offensive day, going 3-4 out of the two-hole.
Stanford starter Brendan Beck tossed 7 1/3 shutout innings. He was lifted after walking Jake Pries with one out in the eighth inning.
UCLA resumes its series with Stanford on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Weiermiller,Austin (5-0)
L: Mora, Kyle (2-2)
Batting:
2B: Kreidler, Ryan 2
RBI: Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Teijeiro, RJ 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Toglia, Michael 1 ; Perez, Mikey 1
SB: Kreidler, Ryan 1 ; Prendiz, Jordan 1 ; Teijeiro, RJ 1
Batting:
2B: Daschbach,Andrew 1 ; Stowers,Kyle 1 ; Robinson,Christian 1
HR: Wulff,Brandon 1
RBI: Wulff,Brandon 1 ; Matthiessen,Will 1 ; Stowers,Kyle 1
SH: Bellafronto,Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wulff,Brandon 1 ; Daschbach,Andrew 1 ; Robinson,Christian 1
SB: Robinson,Christian 1
