STANFORD, Calif. – Junior Brandon Larson patiently waited for his opportunity to make a difference on Tuesday night, lacing a one-out pinch-hit single into left-center field to bring home Temo Becerra as Stanford walked off with a 6-5 victory over Santa Clara in 10 innings from Sunken Diamond.
Right-hander Kassius Thomas was instrumental in keeping the game tied headed to the bottom of the 10th, inheriting two runners with one out in the top of the frame before ultimately striking out Ben Cleary and Dylan Joyce to strand the bases loaded.
Having recorded the final two outs in the 10th inning, Thomas was credited with the victory and moved to 1-0 on the season.
Stanford found itself trailing 4-0 before even coming to the plate, as Santa Clara put up four runs on four hits in the top of the first to chase Stanford starter Nick Dugan after just one out recorded.
Sophomore Ryan Speshyock took over for Dugan and righted the ship, getting out of the first and ultimately tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts to allow the Cardinal offense to breathe.
Still trailing 4-0 headed to the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinal got on the board in that inning as Cort MacDonald legged out a double-play ball to drive in Jimmy Nati. MacDonald was making his return to the lineup after suffering an injury on February 17 at Cal State Fullerton.
The Cardinal drew within a run in the fifth as Nati and Becerra contributed RBI-singles to cut the deficit to 4-3, and Trevor Haskins launched his team-best ninth homer of the year in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4.
Santa Clara took advantage of an error charged to Haskins in the seventh to reclaim the lead at 5-4, but a sac fly from Becerra in the bottom of the seventh once again pulled the Cardinal even. The sac fly chased home Nati and the tying run after the junior second baseman led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a walk and a sac bunt.
Beginning with Speshyock, Stanford’s bullpen was stellar on Tuesday night, with seven relievers combining for 9 2/3 innings of one-run baseball – the only blemish being the unearned run charged to Trevor Moore in the seventh. Ben Reimers followed Speshyock and pitched one inning before Sam Garewal struck out a pair over two scoreless. Toran O’Harran followed Moore before handing the ball to Ty Uber. Uber struck out three over 1 2/3 innings before Thomas finished the string with his two strikeouts.
Stanford will look to maintain momentum on Friday when it welcomes No. 25 Georgia Tech to Sunken Diamond for a 6:05 p.m. first pitch that will open a three-game ACC series.
GAME NOTES:
- The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for Stanford
- The extra-inning game was the fourth of the year for Stanford, including its second in as many contests … Stanford improved to 2-2 in extras this season
- The walk-off win was Stanford’s second of the season (3/15 vs. Duke to win 11-1 (8)) and the third victory in Stanford’s final at bat of a game this season
- The comeback victory was Stanford’s ninth of the season
- The Cardinal used eight pitchers in a game for the first time since running 10 to the mound on May 9, 2023 at Santa Clara
- Stanford pitching struck out 15 batters – the most since punching out 17 vs. Washington State on April 5, 2024
- Temo Becerra (3-for-4, R, 2 RBIs) has hit safely in four straight games and all but four on the season … has compiled nine multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI contests … three hits matched a career high as he managed the feat for the sixth time in his career
- Trevor Haskins (1-for-5, HR) has hit safely in seven straight games
- Tatum Marsh (2-for-5, R, 2B) has hit safely in six straight games and has reached in 22 consecutive contests
- Jimmy Nati (3-for-5, 3 R, RBI) extended his hitting streak to 12 games … has hit safely in all but two contests this season … has driven in a run in all but six games this year, including nine of his last 10 overall … registered his sixth multi-hit game of the season … three runs scored were a career high
- Rintaro Sasaki (1-for-4) has reached safely in all but three contests this season