STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford used 14 hits, including six that went for extra bases, to cruise past Rice, 12-3, Sunday afternoon at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. The Cardinal salvaged a win in the final game of the three-game set after Rice took the first two.
Brett Michael Doran and Danny Diekroeger led the offensive charge with three hits apiece, while Austin Slater and Brant Whiting each had two. Doran homered in the fifth; five batters after Wayne Taylor had done the same to help the Cardinal plate six runners in the frame and grab a 6-3 lead.
Stanford (1-2) was scoreless before the breakout inning, as starting pitcher Chris Viall (1-0) kept the Cardinal in it. The third freshman starter in the first three games, Viall was shaky in the first two innings but settled down to get Stanford through the fifth.
Viall allowed two home runs that resulted in a 3-0 Rice lead before blanking the Owls (1-2) over the next three frames. The Soquel, Calif., native allowed only one hit over his final three innings to finish with five innings pitched, five hits, one walk and one strikeout.
"I thought he pitched well," said Mark Marquess, The Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball. "He hung in there and did a good job for the first outing and we're happy with that. ... He just got the fastball up and they hurt him a little bit. And when he got the fastball down, they didn't hurt him as much."
Once Viall exited, the bullpen shut the door on any chance of a Rice comeback. Marcus Brakeman worked quickly through three innings as he allowed just three hits and struck out two.
Brakeman benefited from four more runs in the seventh and a pair in the eighth to pad the lead. Zach Hoffpauir sent his second home run over the left field wall in the seventh inning, to plate Doran who had doubled. It was Hoffpauir’s second home run of the season after hitting a three-run shot in the opener.
Logan James walked the first batter in the ninth, but induced a double play and then finished the game with a strikeout.
Stanford makes its first road trip of the year Tuesday with a short drive to San Jose State. The nonconference matchup is slated for a 6 p.m. start.
Notes
Stanford had more hits today than the first two games combined (14-11) … Hoffpauir had two hits as a freshman and now has two as a sophomore – both being home runs … Taylor now has four career homers, Doran has three … Viall’s outing was the longest by any Stanford starting pitcher in 2014 … Nine freshmen saw action for Stanford during the series … Rice took two-of-three from Stanford to start the year for the second straight season … Rice head coach Wayne Graham is sitting on 999 career wins at the school … Viall earned the win in his debut to become the first Stanford freshman to win his first start since John Hochstatter did so in 2012 … Preseason All-American Alex Blandino has hit safely in all three games this season … Stanford did not commit an error for the second straight game.