GAME RECAP: Dean West’s Monster Grand Slam Sparks #1 UCLA’s Late Comeback, Bruins Take Series From No. 13 Oregon

LOS ANGELES — For seven innings Sunday at Jackie Robinson Stadium, it felt like the Ducks had finally figured out how to solve the top-ranked Bruins.

Oregon jumped ahead 6-1 with a five-run fourth that featured a three-run homer from Brayden Jaksa and a handful of unearned runs after some early defensive hiccups. UCLA starter couldn’t find the zone, and the visitors were threatening to steal one on the road and even the series.

Then Dean West happened.

The Bruins’ leadoff man and emotional heartbeat delivered the kind of moment that’ll get replayed on every highlight show for the rest of the season. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth and UCLA trailing 6-5, West turned on a middle-in fastball and sent it screaming over the right-center wall for a go-ahead grand slam. Just like that, it was 9-6 Bruins, and Jackie Robinson Stadium erupted.

West wasn’t done being West, either. He finished the day 4-for-5 with two runs scored, four RBIs and a stolen base. The guy’s been on another level all year, and Sunday was peak Dean — raking at the plate and flashing leather earlier when he robbed Ryan Cooney of a potential grand slam with a leaping grab at the wall in the fourth. That catch kept it from getting even uglier in that inning.

The comeback started quietly. Roch Cholowsky got things going with a solo shot to left-center in the sixth, then the Bruins scratched across another unearned run on Payton Brennan’s speed and a Ducks fielding miscue. Cholowsky added an RBI single in the seventh to make it 6-4. But the eighth was pure explosion.

Aidan Espinoza ripped an RBI single to plate Brennan and cut the deficit to one. Then West stepped in and — boom. Cashel Dugger, Espinoza and Call all came around to score on the blast. Game over. Series over.

Zach Strickland earned the win out of the bullpen with some gutsy middle relief, and Easton Hawk slammed the door for the save. The Bruins finished with 13 hits, including three from Brennan and a double from Will Gasparino. Oregon managed just eight hits and couldn’t string anything together after that fourth-inning surge.

The No. 1 Bruins improve to 46-5 overall and 26-1 in conference play. They took the series two games to one after dropping Saturday’s heartbreaker. Oregon falls to 36-14 (18-9).

The Bruins will close out the regular season on the road next week with a three-game set against the Washington Huskies in Seattle, WA.