Sunken Diamond is a place where UCLA baseball has frequently fallen over the years.
The Bruins entered this weekend’s series with a 3-6 record in Stanford’s home stadium since 2008.
This weekend, No. 3 UCLA appeared to be on the verge of another potential slide, losing the first game of a three-game series against Stanford, 6-1.
But then the Bruins rose out of the depths of Friday’s loss and never looked back. They won Saturday’s game 10-0 and overcame and early 2-1 deficit early in Sunday’s game to win 9-3. It was UCLA’s first series win in Stanford since 2007.
As the Bruins (31-9, 16-5 Pac-12) bucked their losing trend in Sunken Diamond, they also kept alive some of their winning trends. They won their sixth-straight rubber match by defeating the Cardinal (18-23, 5-13) on Sunday. That win also gave UCLA its seventh-straight Pac-12 series victory.
As a whole, the narrative of the Stanford series followed that of many of UCLA’s seven Pac-12 series so far: The Bruins got off to a slow start with the loss on Friday, as they have in two of their past three Pac-12 weekend series. They managed to go 3-for-30 against Cardinal starting pitcher Brett Hanewich, who pitched a complete game.
But the Bruins steadily figured things out as the weekend series went on, increasing their batting average in each game. As the Bruins progressed, the Cardinal regressed, committing several costly defensive errors that sunk the team on its home field.
On Saturday, Stanford’s poor defense spoiled a solid effort by starting pitcher Marc Brakeman. The junior right-hander had his changeup working early on, as Bruin batters were just 4-for-18 against him through the first five innings. Brakeman ended up going 5.2 innings and incurring five runs, but only two were earned.
After UCLA broke into its opponent’s bullpen, its offense broke through, as has been the case multiple times this year. The Bruins scored five runs over the final three innings against Cardinal relievers, eventually winning 10-0.
On Sunday, Stanford committed four more errors, but UCLA didn’t need any help from its counterpart. The Bruins scored nine runs against the Cardinal pitching staff, eight of which were earned.
Looking back on the Stanford series
The significance of UCLA’s series win in Stanford is unknown as of now, but the Bruins’ last series in Cardinal territory sparked an unprecedented run for UCLA baseball. It occurred in 2013, the year UCLA baseball won its first College World Series. The Bruins lost the first two games of the series to the Cardinal, but battled to win game three, 6-4.
UCLA would not lose a game the rest of that season, winning 11-straight en route to the national title.
What lies ahead
UCLA has 16 regular-season games left, with the next one coming Tuesday against Long Beach State on the road. The Bruins defeated the 49ers 1-0 back on Feb. 24 in a game where UCLA didn’t get a hit against LBSU starter Ryan Cruz until the sixth inning, when redshirt junior shortstop Kevin Kramer went yard.
Compiled by Matthew Joye, Bruin Sports senior staff.