#3 UCLA Evens Weekend Series at Stanford with 10-0 Shutout

STANFORD, CALIF. – A strong outing from Grant Watson and a powerful offensive display helped No. 3 UCLA earn its fifth shutout with a 10-0 victory over the Stanford Cardinal on Saturday night at Sunken Diamond. The win evens the weekend series at one game apiece.

Grant Watson (7-3) earned his 29th career win to move into a tie with Adam Plutko for second all-time on UCLA's career win list. The senior threw 6.1 shutout innings, allowing just four hits to go with three strikeouts in the victory. Stanford's Marc Brakeman (1-2) received the loss after allowing five runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings.

UCLA reached double-digit runs for the 10th time and the double-digit hit mark for the 19th time in tonight's win. Darrell Miller Jr. (2-for-4, 2B, R, 3 RBI) led the way, finishing with a multi-hit and multi-RBI performance. Also finishing with multiple hits were Luke Persico (3-for-5, 2 2B, SB, R, RBI), Trent Chatterton (2-for-4, R, RBI) and Chris Keck (2-for-3, 2 2B, 3 R, RBI).

UCLA (30-9, 15-5) tallied the game's first run on an error by the Stanford third baseman, Jesse Kuet, to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the third. Chatterton singled to begin the inning and eventually moved up to second on a sacrifice-bunt by Brett Stephens. Then, with two outs, Persico singled to third base, but the attempted throw to catch him at first was overthrown, allowing Chatterton to come home for the Bruins first run.

It was another Stanford (18-22, 5-12) error that resulted in the Bruins' second run in the top of the fourth. Keck led the inning off with a double down the right field line and moved to third on a sacrifice-bunt by Kort Peterson. With two outs, Christoph Bono then hit a ground ball to second that Tommy Edman threw wide of first base. The ball skipped away and allowed Keck to come in to give UCLA the early 2-0 advantage.

After a scoreless fifth, UCLA then erupted for a three-spot in the top of the sixth to extend the lead to five. Keck's second double of the game plated Ty Moore from first to get the first run for the Bruins. Following a sacrifice-bunt, Miller Jr. subsequently brought Keck home on a double of his own for the second run and Chatterton added an RBI-single to cap the three-run frame.

The Bruins continued the offensive display with another three-run output in the top of the seventh inning. UCLA put together a two-out rally, highlighted by an RBI-single from Peterson and a two-RBI-single by Miller Jr. to go up by eight after seven frames.

Scoring for the fifth time in six innings, UCLA continued to add 'insurance' with two more runs in the top of the eighth. After a single from Kevin Kramer and a walk to Sean Bouchard, Persico laced his second double of the game to bring in the ninth run for the Bruins. Moore then pitched in a sacrifice-fly one batter later to get UCLA to the eventual final score, 10-0.

The deciding game between UCLA and Stanford will be tomorrow at 2:00pm PT, live on the Pac-12 Networks. Fans can also access live audio on uclabruins.com.

Notes: The Bruins are now 23-0 when leading after six innings, 24-0 after seven innings and 27-0 after eight innings. In conference play, David Berg has yet to allow a run, recording 25 strikeouts in 23 scoreless innings. Berg is now two appearances away from tying the NCAA record for most career appearances. As a pitching staff, UCLA boasts a 1.88 ERA in Pac-12 Conference games. Chris Keck tied his single game career-high in runs (3) and doubles (2). Luke Persico tied a single game career-high in doubles (2).