April 3, 2010
LOS ANGELES-- UCLA lefthander Rob Rasmussen (4-0) struck out eight over six innings and host No. 2-ranked UCLA (23-1, 2-1 Pac-10) escaped with a series victory over No. 19-ranked Stanford (13-9, 3-3 Pac-10) 7-5 on Saturday afternoon.
Stanford closed to within two runs in the eighth after Bruin setup man Matt Grace gave up his first earned runs of the season. Following a walk and hit by pitch, closer Dan Klein came on and gave up a two-run, pinch-hit single to Jonathan Kaskow to make it 7-5. Klein though got the final two outs of the eighth and a perfect ninth for his sixth save.
UCLA had won the series opener in the 10th inning on Thursday after Stanford led three times, before the Cardinal evened the series with an 8-4 win on Friday.
Rasmussen went the first six innings for UCLA, giving up three runs on four hits, while not walking a batter. Rasmussen retired 10 in a row until a single by Ben Clowe followed by a Kenny Diekroeger two-run homer made it 5-3 in the fifth.
The Bruins though added two runs in the sixth off of reliever Dean McArdle to re-up its lead to 7-3.
Brett Mooneyham (0-4) struggled yet again from the mound, walking his fifth Bruin before exiting in the fourth, the fourth time this year he has not reached the fifth in seven starts. Mooneyham also struck out six, allowing five runs on six hits over three-plus innings.
After Stanford took a 1-0 lead in the first, UCLA countered with two runs in the first, the second run on a bases loaded walk. The Bruins then added two more runs in the third to lead 4-1 on a safety squeeze and two-out single from Steve Rodriguez. Mooneyham's first five outs were by strikeout.
Stanford remains on the road on Monday when they travel to Cal for a non-conference game in Berkeley starting at 2:30 p.m. Stanford returns home on Wednesday to host Saint Mary's at 5:30 p.m before hosting Oregon in a three-game series next weekend starting on Friday.