LOS ANGELES – A strong pitching performance by Tylyn Wells and a late rally was not quite enough, as Stanford dropped the series finale Sunday at No. 2/2 UCLA, 5-2.
Neither team led by more than one run through the first 5.2 innings but a two-run home run by UCLA’s Ally Carda in the sixth gave the Bruins (46-5, 17-4 Pac-12) the lift needed to secure the victory.
Wells (2-4) got the start in the circle for the Cardinal (29-23, 4-17 Pac-12) and was terrific, limiting UCLA to two runs through the first five innings and tying her career high of 5.2 innings pitched. She struck out two and permitted four earned runs on six hits and eight walks.
Wells helped her own cause at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two singles. She finished the series at UCLA 5-for-7 (.714) with one walk and one stolen base.
Erin Ashby went 2-for-3 with a walk on the day. She finished the UCLA series 4-for-9 (.444) with a double, two walks and two runs.
Stanford had multiple opportunities to score throughout Sunday’s contest but stranded 11 runners, including at least one in every inning.
The Cardinal got off to a strong start when it loaded the bases in the first inning and Cassandra Roulund brought in a run with a sacrifice fly. However, Stanford was unable to capitalize further and settled for an early 1-0 lead.
The Bruins responded with two runs in the second inning to take a 2-1 lead. The first run scored on a throwing error when Bessie Noll tried to throw a runner out at third base. An RBI-double by UCLA brought the second run across.
Stanford was kept off the board until the fifth inning when it generated the tying run to level the score at 2-2. Kayla Bonstrom led off with a walk and advanced to second on a passed ball. After advancing to third, Noll brought Bonstrom home with an RBI-single.
The Cardinal began to run into trouble after getting the first two batters out in the sixth inning,. UCLA’s Alexis Bennet reached on a fielder’s choice and was followed by a two-run home run by Carda, giving the Bruins a 4-2 lead. UCLA added another run to extend its advantage to 5-2.
Stanford continued to battle through the seventh inning and generated a two-out rally. Roulund singled up the middle and Noll walked to bring the tying run to the plate. However, Stanford was unable to get the hit needed to keep the game going.
The Cardinal returns home next weekend for its final regular-season series on the year as it plays host to Oregon State. The three-game set begins Thursday at 7 p.m. (PT). All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.