Down by two runs on three separate occasions in tonight’s game, the resilient Bruins made their final comeback with a three-run ninth inning to claim victory. Brett Stephens tied the game with a one-out double to bring in a pair of runs and Peterson sealed the win with his walk-off single two batters later.
Overall, the Bruins racked up nine hits, led by Sean Bouchard (3-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI) who had a team-high three hits, including a triple. Stephens (1-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI) was also clutch, making his one hit count by driving in a pair.
UCLA reliever Moises Ceja (2-0) earned the victory after throwing 2.1 perfect innings out of the
bullpen. Stanford closer Colton Hock (2-2) received the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits in his 0.1 inning of work.
Stanford (16-9, 5-3) scored first in tonight’s game, putting up a two-spot in the third inning. Nico Hoerner brought the first run across for the Cardinal with an RBI-single up the middle to plate Jack Klein from second. Then, with two outs, Mikey Diekroeger doubled down the line to score another, but a potential third run was thwarted by the Bruin defense with a well-executed relay from Eric Filia to Brett Urabe to Daniel Rosica at home.
UCLA (13-15, 5-6) bounced back with a run in the fourth to pull within one of Stanford. With Urabe on first and two outs, Bouchard laced a triple to the right-center gap to bring the runner around to score and make it, 2-1.
The Cardinal would regain their two-run edge in the top of the sixth on an RBI-groundout by pinch-hitter Austin Barr, making it 3-1.
However, in the bottom half of the sixth, the Bruins put a rally together to bring the game even at three a side. Rosica singled, Peterson walked and Urabe was hit with a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Filia and Bouchard then followed with back-to-back RBI-singles to knot the game up and set UCLA up for a big inning. However, the next three Bruins were retired and they were forced to settle for two.
Stanford then retook the lead in the seventh, scoring two runs to move ahead, 5-3. A Hoerner RBI-single brought the first run in and a pair of Bruin errors led to the second, putting UCLA in a hole.
The Bruins never lost faith though and rebounded for a three-run game-winning rally in the ninth. Luke Persico reached via error to get the inning going, and then was followed with a Christoph Bono single and Trent Chatterton sacrifice, putting runners on second and third. Stephens proceeded to double in two and Pries singled to set up the game-winning hit.
The deciding game of the series will be today at 4:35pm PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Tickets can be purchased by visiting uclabruins.com/tickets or by calling 310-UCLA-WIN. Fans can also watch live on the Pac-12 Network or listen live at uclabruins.com.
Notes: Eric Filia has reached base in all 28 games this season…Christoph Bono played in his 200th career game tonight, becoming the 14th Bruin since 1975 to reach that mark…The walk-off win is the fourth of the season for UCLA and second for Kort Peterson…Sean Bouchard has driven in at least one run in 11 of his last 14 games, racking up a total of 23 RBI over his last 17 games…Bouchard tied a career-high with three hits.
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