STANFORD, Calif. - With the Cardinal trailing 7-6 headed to the bottom of the eighth inning, junior Alberto Rios connected for a grand slam to catapult No. 8 Stanford (28-13, 15-6 Pac-12) to a 10-7 victory over UCLA (24-15-1, 10-9-1 Pac-12) to win a three-game series from Sunken Diamond.
The home run was Rios' ninth of the year and Stanford's third grand slam of the season. The go-ahead homer capped a 3-for-3 day for the native of Bellflower, Calif.
Junior Ryan Bruno (2-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Stanford after tossing the final two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Junior Drew Dowd also pitched well, going 2 2/3 shutout innings while allowing two hits, walking one and striking out three.
Joining Rios with multiple hits were Eddie Park (2-for-4), Carter Graham (2-for-4), Malcolm Moore (2-for-4) and Drew Bowser (2-for-5). Bowser drove in two runs, while Park scored twice. Held hitless in three at bats, Braden Montgomery drew a walk, was hit by a pitch and scored three times.
Trailing 2-0 in the second inning, Stanford responded for three runs in the home half of the second to take a 3-2 lead after two. RBI singles from Bowser and Park highlighted the frame, but UCLA promptly evened the tally at 3-3 on a solo home run from Darius Perry in the third.
UCLA took control of the game over the next couple of frames, plating two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth, opening up a 7-3 lead. Fortunately for the Cardinal, the staff dug in from there, holding the Bruins scoreless over the final four frames to give the offense a chance to complete the comeback.
A wild pitch and Bower's second RBI single of the game resulted in two runs in the fifth, cutting the deficit to 7-5.
Graham drew the Cardinal within a run at 7-6 with a single back up the middle to chase home Park, and after failing to score in the seventh, Rios put the Cardinal on top for good with the eighth-inning grand slam. Walks to Park and Montgomery sandwiched a single from Tommy Troy and set the table for Rios' heroics off of reliever Cody Delvecchio (1-3).
UP NEXT
Stanford will hit the road next week, traveling to Arizona State for a three-game Pac-12 series starting on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
GAME NOTES
» Junior Joey Dixon struck out a career-high tying nine Bruins hitters in the start.
» The comeback victory was Stanford's sixth come-from-behind win in the seventh inning or later this year.
» With the 3-for-3 day, Rios finished the series hitting .667 (8-for-12) with four runs scored, a double, a homer and five RBIs.
» Every Stanford starter reached base safely in the win.
» The Stanford pitching staff combined to strike out 16 UCLA hitters.
» Five Cardinal had multiple hits in the ballgame.
» The Cardinal out-hit the Bruins at a 13-10 clip.
» Stanford went 6-for-19 (.316) with runners in scoring position.
» Stanford pitchers faced 45 UCLA hitters in the game, allowing two ground balls and eight fly balls while striking out 16.
» The Cardinal drew six walks from UCLA pitching.
» UCLA was led offensively by senior Darius Perry, who went 2-for-5 with a home run and an RBI.