STANFORD, Calif. -- Zach Hoffpauir gave the Stanford baseball team a 3-1 lead on a towering three-run home run, but Rice scored nine unanswered runs to knock off the Cardinal, 10-3, in front of 1,298 fans at Sunken Diamond Friday.
Stanford (0-1) used five pitchers, including four freshmen, as newcomer Cal Quantrill (0-1) took the loss in his collegiate debut after throwing 4.2 innings. The Canadian right-hander worked quickly through the first four innings after Rice went up 1-0 in the first. Quantrill commanded the zone to strike out six and walk just one, but the Owls tagged him for three runs, two of which came after his exit, in the fifth.
“I thought he was good,” said Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball Mark Marquess. “His changeup was good, but he left a a few pitches up that they hit. They can hit.”
Freshman Tyler Thorne was the first out of the bullpen and worked into the sixth when Rice tallied four more runs off of three pitchers. Redshirt-junior Sam Lindquist was next and got one out before being pulled and freshman Christ Castellanos finally finished off the rally.
Hoffpauir’s homer was the highlight of the night for Stanford, as the Cardinal was limited to seven hits by a pair of Rice pitchers. Jordan Stephens (1-0) threw five innings with the blast as his only blemish. Stanford managed five hits off of the junior and a pair of walks, but couldn’t push any more across besides Hoffpauir’s one swing.
Matt Ditman relieved Stephens after the fifth and continued to fool the Cardinal. He earned the save by finishing the game's final four innings and allowed two hits, while striking out seven.
Freshman Griffin Weir shutout Rice over the final two innings. He surrendered two base runners, a walk and a hit, to close out the game for Stanford.
Stanford spread out its seven hits among seven different players. Tommy Edman, one of seven freshmen to appear for the Cardinal, picked up his first career hit, a double down the left field line in the second inning.
The Cardinal and Owls are back at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond tomorrow for a 1 p.m. game. The second game of the three-game set was originally scheduled for 2 p.m., but was pushed up an hour to avoid potential weather.