UCLA baseball gets held scoreless by Stanford, breaks series winning streak
No. 12 UCLA baseball players watch from the dugout. The Bruins saw their worst loss of the season to No. 22 Stanford on Saturday night, dropping the rubber match of the series. (Finn Chitwood/Daily Bruin)
Baseball
| No. 22 Stanford | 11 |
| No. 12 UCLA | 0 |
By Jay Fenn
April 17, 2022 2:25 p.m.
This post was updated April 17 at 8:53 p.m.
With an opportunity to win their fifth straight series, the Bruins were defeated by double digits.
After tying the series with a 5-4 victory Friday, No. 12 UCLA baseball (24-11, 9-6 Pac-12) fell 11-0 to No. 22 Stanford (20-11, 11-7) on Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium – the blue and gold’s worst loss of the season. Falling 9-1 on Thursday and tying the series Friday, the Bruins could not overcome the Cardinal to claim their fourth consecutive Pac-12 series win.
UCLA threatened to score in the bottom of the first, putting runners on first and third with no outs, but was unable to capitalize after sophomore designated hitter Daylen Reyes grounded into a double play and sophomore third baseman Kyle Karros grounded out to end the inning.
After freshman Gage Jump got through the first two frames in three up, three down fashion, the left-hander ran into trouble in the top of the third. Stanford first baseman Carter Graham smacked a single into center field to bring home the first run of the contest and give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead.
Stanford tripled its lead in the fifth inning, as center fielder Brock Jones hit his fourth home run of the year to right field to give the Cardinal a 3-0 advantage. The inning marked the end of the second career start for Jump, who finished his time on the mound with two earned runs on four hits.
Coach John Savage said he was impressed with how Jump performed and is excited for his future.
“I thought Gage gave us a good start,” Savage said. “I was impressed with his competitiveness. I was impressed with his pitch ability.”
UCLA had a chance to respond in the bottom half of the fifth, but after freshman second baseman Ethan Gourson was thrown out at home on a failed safety squeeze attempt, Reyes struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The Cardinal had their biggest inning of the game in the sixth inning, when they plated five runs to extend their lead to 8-0. The frame was highlighted by a two-run home run by Stanford third baseman Drew Bowser and a two-run home run by Jones – his second of the game.
Stanford tacked on three more runs in the seventh frame to extend its lead to 11-0 with a total of 11 hits on the afternoon.
The Bruins’ offense, on the other hand, garnered five hits on the afternoon. The blue and gold also tied its season-high mark in errors, committing three in the contest.
Savage said the Bruins will use this series as a way to grow for the rest of the season.
“We need to get a lot better,” Savage said. “We can get better from this and move on.”
