Stanford continued its Pac-10 Conference schedule last night after kicking off a weekend series on the road at UCLA. Despite hanging tough with the Bruins all night, the Cardinal was eventually bested by the score of 6-5.
No. 2 UCLA (22-0, 1-0 Pac-10) maintained its undefeated record, while No. 19 Stanford’s (12-8, 2-2 Pac-10) struggles against top-ranked teams continued. Despite sweeping then-No. 5 Rice at the start of the season, Card has since failed to make much of an impact against top-5 opponents. It was swept by No. 3 Texas in its second series of the season and faces two more games against UCLA this weekend.
Stanford managed to keep up with UCLA’s heralded offense for much of Thursday’s contest, however. The teams were tied 1-1 after the first inning and kept trading runs all game. The teams were tied 5-5 after the seventh inning, which is where the score would remain until the 10th inning.
Stanford failed to generate any significant offense in the top half of that inning despite a single and steal by catcher Zach Jones.
The Bruins, however, were able to clinch the victory in the bottom of the 10th inning against junior pitcher Alex Pracher. A leadoff single by shortstop Niko Gallego opened the inning, and he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from catcher Steve Rodriguez. Designated hitter Blair Dunlap then singled to center field, advancing Gallego to third, before he was driven home by a walk-off hit from first baseman Dean Espy.
While Stanford fell to UCLA, there were still positives to be taken from the loss, not least the Card’s ability to compete with the nation’s No. 2 team. Stanford’s defense committed no errors, while junior second baseman Colin Walsh continued his strong hitting with two RBIs in the game.
Stanford plays the undefeated Bruins two more times this weekend in Westwood, Calif. It will take on UCLA at 6 p.m. tonight before wrapping up its series on Saturday at 2 p.m.