| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Stanford (17-17) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 1 | |
| Saint Mary's (13-27) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | |
| Moraga, Calif. | Louis Guisto Field | |||||||||||||
| Pitching | |||||||||||||
| Win: Marcus Brakeman (1-3) | |||||||||||||
| Loss: Kurt Jahnke (1-2) | |||||||||||||
| Batting | |||||||||||||
| Alex Blandino - 2-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI | |||||||||||||
| Tommy Edman - 2-2, 2 BB, 2 SB | |||||||||||||
MORAGA, Calif. – Alex Blandino hit two home runs and drove in four to lead Stanford to a 6-2 win at Saint Mary’s Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinal got back to .500 overall for the first time since starting 10-10.
Blandino tied career highs with the two blasts and four RBI. He has had one two-homer game in each of his three seasons at Stanford.
Marcus Brakeman (1-3) earned the win in relief for Stanford by shutting out Saint Mary’s for 5.2 innings. The sophomore relieved starter Brett Hanewich in the fourth and put zeros on the board through the ninth.
Brakeman was sharp in his first outing in over two weeks, as he allowed just three hits, walked two and struck out seven. His 5.2 innings, the most he has thrown this season, let Stanford rest its bullpen that used five arms in a 10-9 win at Santa Clara yesterday.
The sophomore fanned the final six batters he faced.
Hanewich, who allowed two runs on two hits in the first 3.1 innings, was spotted a 3-0 lead on Blandino’s first homer in the first inning off of Saint Mary’s Kurt Jahnke (1-2). The Gaels’ starter set the table by walking the first two hitters and Blandino made him pay for it by crushing a 2-2 pitch on a line over the left field wall.
Two walks helped Saint Mary’s (13-27) push their first run across in the second, but Stanford quickly answered in the third and two more single tallies in the fifth and sixth made the Cardinal pull away.
The Cardinal (17-17) scored on a wild pitch in the third, after Austin Slater had doubled Blandino to third, a solo shot by Blandino in the fifth and a passed ball in the ninth. Blandino’s second long ball of the day was an opposite field shot.
Slater, Zach Hoffpauir and Tommy Edman joined Blandino with two hits. Edman also stole his first two career bases.
The Gaels, which used four pitchers in the game, have lost 14 straight games.
Stanford’s 16 runs in the last two games is the most in back-to-back contests since following 11 runs at Texas Feb. 23 with six against San Jose State Feb. 25.
The defense was nearly flawless once again, as Stanford’s only error came on an errant pickoff throw. It was the Cardinal’s first error in the last three games.
Stanford turns its focus to the weekend for a three-game series against California. The Sunday and Monday games of the series that starts on Saturday will be aired live on Pac-12 Networks.