Bruins Lose Series Finale to Stanford

LOS ANGELES – The UCLA Bruins dropped the final game of the series to the Stanford Cardinal, 8-2, on Saturday evening at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The loss gives Stanford the 2-1 series victory.
Kyle Molnar (2-3) allowed four runs (two earned) over 5.2 innings to garner the loss for UCLA. Stanford reliever Andrew Summerville (3-1) earned the win for the Cardinal, allowing just one run on six hits over 5.0 innings of relief.

The Bruins totaled seven hits in the loss, led by Sean Bouchard (2-for-4, BB) and Jake Hirabayashi (2-for-4, RBI) who each finished with a pair. Brett Stephens (0-for-2, R, RBI) scored a run and drove in a run to aid the effort.

UCLA (13-16, 5-7) got on the board first with a run in the second inning to jump out to the early lead
on Stanford. Stephens walked, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Then, with two outs, Hirabayashi served a single into right field to plate Stephens and put the Bruins up, 1-0.

Stanford (17-9, 6-3) responded with two runs in the top of the fifth to take the lead away from the Bruins. RBI-singles from Tommy Edman and Matt Winaker put the Cardinal on top by one.

However, UCLA bounced back to tie the game in the bottom half. With runners on the corners, Stephens drove a ball to left field for a sac-fly to knot the game up at two.

That tie didn’t last long, as Stanford scored two runs in the top of the sixth to quickly regain their advantage. A two-RBI-single by Edman supplied the power as the Cardinal led 4-2.

Then, Stanford put the game away in the top of the ninth with a four-run frame. The Cardinal teamed up for five hits in the inning, including a Winaker RBI-double to take the game, 8-2.

UCLA closes out a five-game home stand on Tuesday, April 12 at 6:00pm PT when it hosts the LMU Lions at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Tickets can be purchased by visiting uclabruins.com/tickets or by calling 310-UCLA-WIN. Fans can also listen to the action live on uclabruins.com.

Notes: Eric Filia has reached base in all 29 games this season…Jake Hirabayashi recorded a career-high two hits…Sean Bouchard led the team going 5-for-11 (.455) with one triple and three RBI this weekend…Hunter Virant has allowed just one run over his last six appearances (4.0 innings)…Moises Ceja recorded his 10th scoreless appearance this season, allowing just one run in 11 total appearances…Tucker Forbes made his first appearances since March 6 after missing time with an injury.