The first grand slam of sophomore third baseman Ryan Kreidler’s life happened to be the game-winner for the Bruins.
In what was expected to be a low-scoring pitchers’ duel between the teams with the two lowest ERAs in the conference, No. 21 UCLA baseball (18-7, 7-3 Pac-12) defeated No. 2 Stanford (22-4, 5-2) 8-4. For the first two-and-a-half innings, the two staffs met expectations, as neither team was able to score a run.
The Bruins were first to get on the board, thanks to a two-RBI double by from sophomore second baseman Chase Stumpf that snuck down the third base line.
After that inning, the teams traded runs, with the Bruins picking up a run in the fourth and the Cardinal scoring one in both the fourth and fifth.
Senior right-hander Jake Bird let up eight hits, the second-most he has allowed this season. However, Bird managed to hold Stanford to two runs, keeping his ERA below 1.60. After escaping jams in the fourth and fifth, coach John Savage continued to toss him back out on the mound.
“I feel good, I feel like I can keep going,” Bird said. “It’s a credit to coach Savage and the program that he has us on to get our arms in such good shape that I could throw 100 pitches and feel great, like I could pitch the next day.”
Bird pitched into the eighth, notching his fifth straight start with over 100 pitches. With junior pitcher Jon Olsen and redshirt sophomore Kyle Molnar still hurt, Savage said he needs Bird and the other starters to go the extra mile.
“We have to stretch our starters, and it’s not easy,” Savage said. “When you have your best guy pitching on a Friday, as a senior, he deserves the opportunity to win or lose a game.”
The Bruins’ bullpen didn’t have to do too much work, throwing just 28 pitches. With most of his pitchers fully rested, Savage is still yet to commit to a starter for Sunday.
In the bottom of the eighth, UCLA built on its lead with a pinch-hit RBI single by junior outfielder Jake Pries. After a walk by freshman right fielder Garrett Mitchell to load the bases, Kreidler launched a grand slam to center field.
“I’m excited. It was cool to come through for my team,” Kreidler said. “We have a lot of guys who’ve been working really hard, and to see it pay off, we’re looking like a different team right now.”
Despite hitting the first grand slam of his life, Kreidler thinks he could have done it a little differently with a crowd of 1,314 on their feet for him.
“I (rounded the bases) too fast, I wish I would’ve gone a little slower,” Kreidler said. “It was awesome to have so many students out there … it was one of the best crowds we had all year.”
The Bruins and Cardinal will continue the weekend series Saturday at 2 p.m., with freshman Zach Pettway matching up against Kris Bubic, who leads the conference with a 0.96 ERA and a .150 batting average against.