Stanford Lays A 7-3 Beatdown On UCLA

UCLA scored first and led in the sixth, but make no mistake, Stanford dominated all evening. It was just a matter of time before the Cardinal capitalized on their opportunities and when they did, the Bruins were left as 7-3 losers.

Shane Zeile made sure the Bruins would be first on the scoreboard with a two-run homer in the second inning. The sophomore jumped on a 2-1 pitch and cleared the fence in right for his second long ball of the season and a UCLA lead.

But Stanford was dinging up Nick Vander Tuig from the start, picking up hits in each of the first two innings. In the third, they finally got something to show for it thanks to Brian Ragira, who laced a two-out RBI double to left.

The Bruins answered the Cardinal in the fifth, starting with a Chris Keck leadoff single. Cody Regis was then hit by a pitch before consecutive groundouts scored Keck to restore UCLA's two-run lead.

That would be it for the Bruins, though. The Cardinal continued to knock out hits and the Bruins wouldn't have lady luck of their side all game. The Stanford fifth started with two singles and after a sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch scored a run, but it was the sixth inning that the Cardinal really made their move.

Three consecutive singles with one out scored the tying run and ended Vander Tuig's day. Cody Poteet entered for him, but he also allowed a single that loaded up the bases. Then with two outs, the fifth base hit of the inning handed the Cardinal their first lead of the game. Two runs came home to score and Stanford led 5-3.

Stanford kept piling it on the seventh, getting a one-out triple to spark the rally. An error allowed another man to reach before a wild pitch scored a run for the Cardinal. James Kaprielian then surrendered his second triple of the frame, scoring another run. Stanford out-hit UCLA 14-4 in the contest and a deserved 7-3 win that will almost certainly keep the Bruins from earning a national seed.