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UCLA Sweeps Stanford in Palo Alto

No. 12 UCLA, which had some struggles early in the season, appears to be rounding into top form, as evidenced in a three-game Pac-12 sweep at No. 5 Stanford this past weekend. With the wins, the Bruins now hold first place in the conference at 12-3 (.800), with the Cardinal second at 13-5 (.722). Scores were 1-0 (9 innings), 9-3, and 2-0. 

Friday's opener featured a battle of sophomores in the circle, with UCLA's Taylor Tinsley outdueling Stanford's NiJaree Canady. Tinsley struck out a personal season-high 15 batters, while allowing only five baserunners (five hits, no walks). Canady struck out 12, while allowing eight hits and one free pass. 

The game's only run came on a controversial play in the ninth, with a Bruin runner initially being called out at the plate, but the call being overturned due to catcher obstruction (i.e., blocking the plate without the ball). Following is a frozen screenshot of a video on Twitter/X. You can watch the full video of the play here.

After Saturday's blowout, Sunday's contest (telecast on ESPN 2) was another tight game. Canady was back in the circle for the Cardinal Sunday, with Kaitlyn Terry starting for the Bruins and going 4-1/3 innings before being relieved by Tinsley, who went the rest of the way. The only runs came on a two-run, seventh-inning homer by UCLA's Jordan Woolery (video).

By no means did Canady pitch poorly. In 16 innings, she put up a zero in 14 of those!

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