Winaker Walk-Off WinnerWinaker Walk-Off Winner
Baseball

Winaker Walk-Off Winner

 
Final123456789RHE
Nevada (7-1)101030000572
Stanford (4-4)0002120016120
Klein Field at Sunken Diamond (Stanford, Calif.)
 Attendance: 1,168 • Time: 3:16
 Related Links: Box Score


 
PitchingIPHRERBBSO
W - James (1-1)1.010011
L - Rowland (2-1)2.121114

Next Game
Friday, Feb. 27
Stanford at Rice (four-game series)
Houston, Texas
  

STANFORD, Calif. -- Freshman Matt Winaker drove in junior Jonny Locher with a double to right field to give the Stanford baseball team a walk-off win over previously undefeated Nevada, 6-5, Tuesday evening at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. Winaker sent the first pitch he saw from Cameron Rowland to the corner, just feet inside the foul line, to get the Cardinal to .500 overall on the season.

“When I knew I was going to get that opportunity, I was excited and focused,” Winaker said. “My last at-bat I had seen all of [Rowland’s] pitches so I knew what to be ready for. He left a curveball up and I just put a swing on it.”


Winaker went 2-5 with two RBI to be one of four Cardinal with multiple hits. Sophomore outfielder Alex Dunlap led the lineup with a 3-for-5 day, while freshmen Jesse Kuet and Beau Branton also chipped in two knocks.

Stanford (4-4) rallied to tie Nevada (7-1) on two occasions, but never took the lead until the final swing. The Wolf Pack led 2-0 after three innings and 5-2 after five, after Ryan Howell blasted a two-run shot to add to Nevada’s national-best home run total (14).

Winaker played a big role in tying the game in the fourth inning by sending an RBI triple to right center and later scoring on a Quinn Brodey ground out. Both of the lefty’s hits came against left-handed pitchers.

It was the second straight two-hit game for Winaker, whose last five hits have gone for extra bases. He is 5-13 with seven RBI since Friday (four games).

Three singles tied the game again in the sixth inning, after Stanford added a run on a dropped infield fly during its previous trip to the plate. Kuet and Dunlap drove home runners with singles to left field in the sixth.

Logan James (1-1), the fourth reliever for the Cardinal, picked up the win by throwing a scoreless top of the ninth. Nevada had runners at first and third with two outs, but Beau Branton made a nice play on a chopper to third base to end the frame.

Brett Hanewich started and went a scheduled two innings, allowing one run on one hit and striking out three. Tyler Thorne allowed a run over the third and fourth innings and Chris Viall had three runs come across during his four innings of work. Stanford hurlers combined for 11 strikeouts, including five from Viall.

Rowland (2-1) took the loss as the last of five Nevada arms. He pitched 2.1 innings of scoreless ball before the walk-off. Left-hander Barry Timko started and allowed two runs on five hits in the first four frames.

Stanford outhit Nevada, 12-7, in its second straight double-digit hit performance. Despite the high hit total, the Cardinal went just 3-16 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base.

The schedule does not get any easier for Stanford, which travels to Rice Friday. The Cardinal and Owls are slated to play four games in three days with a doubleheader Saturday sandwiched between single games Friday and Sunday.