Feb. 18, 2012
STANFORD, Calif.-- Brian Ragira had his second-straight three-hit day, while Kenny Diekroeger and Eric Smith had two hits a piece as No. 2-ranked Stanford (2-0) will look for the sweep on Sunday following a 9-5 win over visiting No. 10-ranked Vanderbilt on Saturday afternoon.
The 10-hit attack was more than enough for Brett Mooneyham (1-0), who struck out eight and walked four over 6.0 innings. The lefthander making his first start after missing the 2011 season due to a finger injury, gave up three runs on five hits.
Stanford chased its second-straight Vandy starter from the game early, as Tyler Beede (0-1) could not get out of the fifth, leaving the game after Smith's second RBI of the game, a double, to make it 7-1. Stanford added two more runs off of reliever Phillip Pfeiser, which were two of the nine runs charged to Beede over 4.1innings.
Vandy's defense, which has committed six errors in two days, struggled with three errors in the third, leading to four runs (one earned) and a 5-1 Cardinal lead. RBI singles from Ragira, Diekroeger and Smith in the inning led to the four-run advantage.
After a single run in the fourth, Stanford added three more runs in the fifth to lead 9-1.
Tyler Gaffney's single in the fourth, extended his hit streak to 24 games over two years and extended the lead to 6-1.
Vandy's lone offense came off the bat of Connor Harrell, who hit two-run home runs in the sixth and eighth innings as a part of a 2-for-4 day with four RBIs.
NOTES: The Sunday finale is at 1 p.m. with the Cardinal headed to Pacific on Tuesday at 6 p.m.... the Cardinal hosts Texas next weekend.... Ragira has started the season 6-for-7, while Diekroeger is hitting .571... Smith has driven four runs in two-straight starts at catcher.