UCLA
24-14-1, 10-8-1
Stanford
27-13, 14-6
UCLA Tops Stanford, 9-6, to Even Series
April 29, 2023 | Baseball
STANFORD, Calif. โ Kelly Austin matched a career-high with seven innings pitched, allowing just one earned run, and UCLA scored in six of nine offensive innings to notch a 9-6 win over No. 8 Stanford on Saturday afternoon at Sunken Diamond.
The result evened the series between the Bruins (24-14-1, 10-8-1 Pac-12) and Cardinal (27-13, 14-6) at one game apiece. The two teams will decide the series on Sunday afternoon starting at 1:05 p.m. PT.
UCLA scored early and often on Saturday, using a balanced attack while taking advantage of 13 free passes โ a dozen walks and one hit batter โ to go ahead for good by the third inning.
Eight of UCLA's nine starters on offense reached base multiple times, and all nine got aboard at least once. Seven different Bruins drove in a run.
Sophomore first baseman Jack Holman paced the Bruins on offense, going 2-4 and reaching four times with a home run, double, and a team-high three runs scored.
Sophomore shortstop Duce Gourson added three hits and reached four times himself, while junior left fielder Carson Yates (2-5) also had a multi-hit effort. Senior catcher Darius Perry ended the game 0-3, but had a team-high three RBIs.
Austin did his part to keep the Bruins in front, pitching out of multiple jams while completing seven innings. He allowed three runs during his outing, but just one of them was earned. It was the second time in his Bruin career that he got through seven innings, both occurring this year.
UCLA took advantage of a lack of control from Stanford pitching to go ahead in the third. Cardinal starter Matt Scott walked the first two batters of that inning before getting the hook, and new pitcher Nick Dugan proceeded to walk Jack Holman on five pitches to load the bases with nobody out. The Bruins ultimately cashed in two of those runners on sac flies from Perry and sophomore center fielder Malakhi Knight to make it 3-2.
Two innings later, the Bruins pushed the lead to three after Darius Perry drew a bases-loaded walk before senior DH Josh Hahn delivered an opposite field RBI single to left.
UCLA brought in the ultimate game-winning run with another two-spot an inning later, as runs came across on an RBI base hit from Kyle Karros and a run-scoring groundout from Perry.
The Bruins continued to churn out offense in the late innings, with Holman hitting a moonshot solo homer in the eighth before Gourson capped the scoring in the ninth with an RBI single.
Austin limited the damage against him or avoided it altogether in the middle innings before settling into a dominant run near the end of his outing.
Arguably his most important escape act came in the fifth, as he came up with back-to-back swinging strikeouts against the heart of the Stanford order to strandย the potential game-tying run on base in a 5-3 game.
That started a run of eight consecutive batters retired by Austin to close out his start, as he went 1-2-3 in both the sixth and seventh.
After a three-run eighth from the hosts, freshman right-hander Cody Delvecchio yielded just an infield single during a scoreless ninth to close out the win.
Stanford was led by right fielder Alberto Rios, who finished 4-5. Second baseman Drew Bowser and catcher Malcolm Moore each hit home runs for the Cardinal.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Austin, Kelly (4-2)
L: Scott, Matt (5-3)
Batting:
2B: Holman, Jack 1
HR: Holman, Jack 1
RBI: Gourson, Duce 1 ; Karros, Kyle 1 ; Holman, Jack 1 ; Knight, Malakhi 1 ; Perry, Darius 3 ; Hahn, Josh 1 ; Yates, Carson 1
SF: Knight, Malakhi 1 ; Perry, Darius 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Reyes, Daylen 1 ; Gourson, Duce 3 ; Karros, Kyle 1 ; Holman, Jack 3 ; Salgado, AJ 1
SB: Gourson, Duce 2 ; Yates, Carson 1
HBP: Hahn, Josh 1
Batting:
2B: Troy, Tommy 1 ; Rios, Alberto 1
HR: Bowser, Drew 1 ; Moore, Malcolm 1
RBI: Graham, Carter 1 ; Montgomery, Braden 1 ; Rios, Alberto 1 ; Bowser, Drew 2 ; Moore, Malcolm 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Graham, Carter 1 ; Troy, Tommy 1 ; Rios, Alberto 1 ; Bowser, Drew 1 ; Moore, Malcolm 1 ; Cobb, Owen 1
HBP: Park, Eddie 1
