No. 20 UCLA Takes Down No. 2 Stanford, 8-4

Recap, photo courtesy of UCLA

LOS ANGELES – Jake Bird tossed 7.1 strong innings on the mound, while Ryan Kreidler hit a grand slam as the No. 20 UCLA baseball team won the series opener over No. 2 Stanford, 8-4, on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Bird (3-2) threw 7.1 innings to earn the win allowing just two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts for his second Pac-12 victory of the season. Offensively, Daniel Amaral, Kevin Kendall and Chase Strumpf each totaled two hits and one run.

UCLA led 3-2 heading into the eighth inning before scoring five runs for an 8-2 advantage. Pinch hitter Jake Pries plated the first run as he hit a line-drive single to center field to bring home Strumpf from second base to regain a two-run advantage. Two batters later, Kreidler came up with the bases loaded and smashed a 1-0 pitch over the center-field wall for his first career grand slam and a six-run lead.

The Bruins scored the first runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning when Strumpf ripped a two-run single down the third-base line to bring home Amaral and Kendall who reached base on back-to-back singles.

Stanford got a run back in the top of the fourth, but in the bottom half of the inning the Bruins regained their two-run lead. With two outs and two runners on the bases, Amaral would hit an infield single to the shortstop that allowed Kreidler to score all the way from second base to make the score 3-1.

The Cardinal cut the deficit again to 3-2 in the top of the fifth inning as Tim Tawa grounded out to third base with the bases loaded to plate Christian Molfetta.

Stanford's starter Tristan Beck (3-2) suffered the loss allowing three runs over 6.1 innings surrendering eight hits and striking out five batters.

UCLA (18-7, 7-3) scored eight runs on 11 hits with one error, while Stanford (22-4, 5-2) finished with four runs on 11 hits with one error.

Game two of this three-game Pac-12 series will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. PT from Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Game Notes: Ryan Kreidler hit the first UCLA Grand Slam since Chase Strumpf on May 21, 2017 … Kreidler set a career-high with four RBIs … Chase Strumpf collected his team-leading sixth multi-RBI game of the season … Jack Stronach recorded his fourth double of the season … Daniel Amaral is now second on the team with seven multi-hit games … Jake Bird set a career-high with 7.1 innings pitched … Kevin Kendall tallied his third multi-hit game in five games played.