SAN JOSE – All nine Stanford players in the starting lineup had at least one hit and Tyler Thorne allowed three runs over 6.0 innings pitched to guide the Cardinal to a 9-3 win against San Jose State Tuesday night at Municipal Stadium. Danny Diekroeger led the offensive attack with three hits, while Austin Slater and Brett Michael Doran each drove in three runs.
Diekroeger singled and Slater doubled during a five-run fifth inning that helped Stanford come from behind for the win.
Stanford got on the board in the second with a Doran triple with runners on the corners. Doran lined a 3-2 pitch past a diving Matt Lopez in left field to produce his first career three-bagger. The ball rolled all the way to the wall to allow Slater and Brant Whiting to score easily.
San Jose State answered with three runs in the next two innings, including two that were aided by a Thorne error, to take a 3-2 lead. The righty induced a groundout to Diekroeger at first, but dropped the ensuing feed as he tried to reach across his body while moving towards first.
The Cardinal picked up the freshman pitcher with a single run in the fourth and five more in the fifth. Doran provided his third RBI of the night in the fourth to tie his career high before Stanford’s bats and San Jose State miscues opened up the game in the next frame.
Stanford needed just three hits, singles from Wayne Taylor and Diekroeger and the double from Slater, to push across the five runs. San Jose State walked two, hit another and committed an error as the Cardinal circled the bases.
Thorne kept the Cardinal lead at 8-3 for the rest of his outing, which ended after six innings. He allowed just four hits, three runs, one earned run and struck out four in the longest outing by a Stanford starting pitcher this season.
Slater added a sacrifice fly in the eighth to get to the 9-3 final. The junior crushed a ball to the center field wall 390 feet from home plate, but a diving effort from Andre Mercurio saved an extra-base hit. The grab sent Diekroeger home from third and Blandino all the way around from second base, until Blandino was ruled out for leaving second early.
Logan James worked the seventh and eighth before giving way to Griffin Weir to close out the contest. James allowed just two hits and Weir’s only blemish were a pair of hit batters, as Stanford’s bullpen did not give up a run for the second straight game.
Notes
The Cardinal is the only team in the country to start a freshman on the mound in each game this season … Stanford has won nine of its last ten meetings with San Jose State at Municipal Stadium … Since 2004, Stanford is 17-3 against San Jose State … Doran has more RBI this season (6) than he did last season (5) … Doran compiled a single, double, triple and home run during a four at-bat stretch dating back to the Rice finale … Tommy Edman picked up his first career RBI with a bases-loaded walk in the fifth … Stanford has scored five or more runs in the fifth inning in back-to-back games … Doran’s first career triple came in his 113th career at-bat … Thorne’s error in the second was Stanford’s first since the season opener … 11 of Stanford's 25 runs have come in the fifth inning … Although Slater’s eighth inning fly out resulted in two outs, he still gets credited for a sac fly and an RBI because the second out was not recorded via a force double play or reverse-force double play.
