NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Stanford kept Vanderbilt away from a big inning, but dropped a 4-1 decision to the Commodores Friday night at Hawkins Field. The Cardinal held Vanderbilt to single runs in the second, third, fourth and fifth, but collected only four hits in the loss.
Stanford (4-5) starter Brett Hanewich (0-1) worked out of trouble throughout the evening, much like he had done in his previous two starts. The freshman entered with a .188 batting average against with runners on and held Vanderbilt to 1-8.
"He won some big spots," said Mark Marquess, The Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball. "I thought he pitched pretty well."
Despite Hanewich’s efforts, the Commodores’ single-run frames were enough to bounce the Stanford starter after five innings and 97 pitches. The final Vanderbilt (9-2) tally came on a Dansby Swanson home run in the Stanford righty’s final inning before giving way to the bullpen.
Hanewich allowed six hits and struck out five.
Stanford cut Vanderbilt’s lead to 2-1 in the fourth, but ace Tyler Beede (3-0) went on to limit the Cardinal to three hits over seven innings. Danny Diekroeger walked and Austin Slater doubled, before Alex Blandino drove in Diekroeger for Stanford’s only run off of Beede, whose fastball reached as high as 96 miles per hour.
Slater also singled up the middle in the second, Tommy Edman singled in the sixth and Blandino roped a single off of the left field wall in the ninth. Blandino also walked twice in the contest.
Daniel Starwalt, Chris Castellanos and A.J. Vanegas combined to keep Vanderbilt off the board over the final three innings. Starwalt went 1.2 innings, Castellanos got an out in the seventh and Vanegas worked a perfect eighth.
The Cardinal will be back at Hawkins Field tomorrow looking for Marquess’ 1,500th career win. Tomorrow’s game begins at noon PT and the third game of the series on will begin Sunday at 10 a.m.
Notes
There was a 24-minute delay in the top of the eighth after home plate umpire Scott Erby was hit in the mask with a fastball and went down … Blandino is on a nine-game hitting streak, one away from his career best … Slater has matched his career high with a seven-game hitting streak … Tommy Edman has reached base in seven straight games … Mark Marquess’ career record is 1,499-786-7 … Vanderbilt is ranked as high as No. 4 in the country (NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball).
