No. 3 Stanford suffered a tough conference defeat Friday afternoon in Los Angeles, falling 3-2 to No. 2 UCLA at Easton Stadium. The Bruins, who trailed 2-0, scored the game's final run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh to capture the win.
Stanford (33-6, 4-3 Pac-10), which has now outscored its opponents 48-6 in the first inning this season, broke through with an early score. Kira Ching's (San Lorenzo, Calif.) sacrifice fly plated Robin Walker (La Palma, Calif.) to give the Cardinal a 1-0 edge, after Walker had led off with a walk and advanced to third on Sarah Beeson's (Tucson, Ariz.) single to center.
The Cardinal tacked on another run in the top of the second, courtesy of an RBI single by Walker. Cassi Brangham (Clovis, Calif.) led off with a single and moved to second when Leah Nelson (Oakland, Calif.) was hit by a pitch two batters later. Jessica Draemel (Omaha, Neb.) sacrificed both runners over, and Walker delivered a basehit to left to plate Brangham for a 2-0 advantage.
UCLA (35-6, 3-3 Pac-10) answered with a run of its own in the home half of the second, as Stacy Nuveman blasted her 12th home run of the year over the center field fence to cut the Stanford lead to 2-1.
The Bruins responded with another run in the bottom of the fourth inning to knot the game at 2-2. After Tairia Mims walked and Nuveman singled to open the frame, Stephanie Ramos laced a single to right field to bring home Amanda Simpson, who came in to pinch run for Mims. Stanford starter Tori Nyberg (Belmont, Calif.) would settle down and retire the next three UCLA hitters, as the Bruins stranded runners at second and third with no outs.
UCLA had a great opportunity to claim the lead in the bottom of the sixth but would come away empty. Mims singled to open the inning and after Nuveman walked, Ramos reached on a fielder's choice as Nuveman was cut down at second base. Crissy Buck followed with an infield single to the left side, but Mims and Nuveman were forced to stay put as Stanford's Walker kept the ball from getting to the outfield. The Cardinal's Maureen LeCocq (Woodland Hills, Calif.) then came in to relieve Nyberg, facing a bases loaded situation with just one out. However, UCLA's Claire Sua topped a 3-1 pitch right back to LeCocq, who threw to home plate for the second out and Stanford catcher Jessica Allister (Nacogdoches, Texas) tossed back to first base for the inning-ending double play.
The Bruins would have the final say, scoring in the bottom of the seventh to pick up the win. Monique Mejia led off with a single and advanced to second base on Erin Rahn's sacrifice. Natasha Watley followed with a single, moving Mejia to third. UCLA's Amanda Freed then lofted a sacrifice fly to center field that was just long enough to score Mejia from third for the final run of the game.
UCLA's Keira Goerl picked up the win, while Stanford's LeCocq drops to 13-3 after suffering the loss in relief.
Six of the last eight games in the series have been decided by three runs or less.
Stanford now travels to Seattle for two contests against No. 10 Washington, the first of which is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m.