March 5, 2010
STANFORD, Calif.-- Pinch hitter Jonathan Kaskow drove in Stephen Piscotty in the bottom of the ninth and No. 24-ranked Stanford (6-3) beat visiting UC Santa Barbara (2-3), 6-5 on Friday evening.
In a game that saw five lead changes, Stanford's last four hitters drove in all six runs. Kaskow took a 1-1 pitch from Connor Whalen to deep left center to drive in Piscotty from third and give the Cardinal the series opener.
Piscotty had reached on a two-base error by shortstop Matt Valaika to open the inning against loser David Meals (0-2). Following the high throw from short, Piscotty was sacrificed to third. Whalen then relieved Meals and got pinch hitter Eric Smith to hit it back to the pitcher and keep Piscotty at third.
Following an intentional walk to freshman, Kenny Diekroeger, Kaskow hit for Justin Ringo and laced a single into the power alley to end the contest.
Freshman Mark Appel (1-0) struck out five over two scoreless innings for the win after Stanford tied it in the bottom of the seventh. Both teams traded runs in the seventh, with Marty Mullins hitting a solo shot in the top of the inning off of Chris Jenkins, before Ringo tied it in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single.
The Cardinal's last four hitters all drove in runs early. Jake Schlander's sacrifice fly in the fifth tied it at 4-4. The bottom three hitters each drove in a run in a three-run fourth. Tyler Gaffney, Diekroeger and Adam Gaylord each plated runs to make it 3-2.
Jordan Pries pitched the first five for the Cardinal, giving up four runs on five hits. After two runs in the first, he pitched to the minimum over the next three innings, before UCSB retook the lead in the fifth with two additional runs to lead 4-3.
The series continues on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.