April 24, 2012
STANFORD, Calif.-- Austin Wilson drove in a career-best five, which included his fifth home run of the season, as No. 9-ranked Stanford (26-10) held on for a 10-9 win over visiting Brigham Young (17-15) on Tuesday evening.
BYU used a seven-run eighth against relievers David Schmidt (six runs) and Stephen Piscotty (one run) to close to 9-8. The Cougars sent 11 men to the plate, using six hits to erase a 9-1 lead by the Cardinal. BYU had three hits over the first seven innings, before nearly tying it in the ninth.
First baseman Danny Diekroeger, a late defensive replacement, coming in when Piscotty went to pitch, made a diving stop and threw home, keeping it at 10-9 after a Jaycob Brugman RBI triple cut it to one run.
Piscotty then struck out the next two for a five-out save, his first. Piscotty also made a great defensive play as the left fielder in the seventh.
Brett Michael Doran added a 2-for-3 night with three RBIs, while Wilson was 3-for-3.
Two-run singles by Wilson and Doran made it 4-0 and started the onslaught as a part of a five-run second. Starter Adam Miller (1-3) was chased from the game after loading the bases in the inning. He left in a 2-0 game, as all three runners ended up scoring against Miller.
Two more runs came across in the fourth, as Wilson's homer was followed by a Doran sacrifice fly to make it 7-0. Wilson's two-run single in the fifth made it 9-0.
Garrett Hughes (2-1) went a pre-determined 3.0 innings, giving up a single hit with one strikeout for the win. Sahil Bloom gave up one run on two hits over the next 3.0 innings. Hughes, Bloom and McArdle combined for one run on three hits over the first seven innings.
NOTES: Piscotty made a diving catch, sliding to his knees in foul territory near the visiting bullpen and making a nice catch in the seventh... third baseman Alex Blandino added to his weekly accolades on Tuesday being named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association and Collegebaseball360.com's national players of the week awards... Stanford travels to UCLA starting on Friday at 6 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Stadium.