“Bruin ball” has served No. 12 UCLA well so far this season, but this past weekend No. 13 Stanford beat the Bruins at their own game.
The Cardinal took two of three games in the weekend series thanks to strong pitching and disciplined play at the plate.
Stanford (28-11, 10-8 Pac-12) started the weekend off with a 7-2 win on Friday and Saturday’s game saw UCLA (28-12, 12-9) put up seven runs of its own to even the series.
The final game of the series saw an early 2-0 UCLA lead turn into an insurmountable 7-2 deficit as Stanford scored six runs in the fifth inning ““ an inning that seemed never-ending for the Bruins.
“It was a killer inning, and we couldn’t put a stop to it,” coach John Savage said. “You have to step up and make a play, make a pitch, and unfortunately today they did a good job in that inning and that was the difference in the game.”
Sophomore starter Zack Weiss held Stanford scoreless through the first four innings Sunday, but loaded the bases and hit a batter to walk in a run. That was only the beginning of UCLA’s troubles.
Freshmen David Berg and Grant Watson each allowed one run in relief as three UCLA pitchers saw action in the fifth inning. Berg allowed four hits in three innings and helped get UCLA out of the disastrous fifth.
Sophomore shortstop Pat Valaika was the only Bruin to record a hit and score a run in Sunday’s game as UCLA’s offensive momentum was repeatedly stifled by Stanford’s pitching tandem of AJ Vanegas and Sahil Bloom. Vanegas and Bloom combined to hold UCLA to six hits in the game.
Valaika was disappointed with how UCLA finished the game, as the Bruins were held scoreless following the second inning.
“We got away from us, from playing how we have been. They put up that six-spot and we didn’t really respond. We didn’t give up but we never really chipped away at it,” Valaika said.
One positive for the Bruins was the return of junior Tyler Heineman at catcher, who missed time last week with a heel injury.
“My heel’s still bothering me, but I felt like I needed to be in there and try to help us win the best that I can,” Heineman said.