Slow StartSlow Start
Lisa Whiting
Baseball

Slow Start

Box Score

FULLERTON, Calif. – Following a rainout on Friday, No. 23 Stanford struggled to get started on Saturday night in an 8-1 loss to No. 23 Cal State Fullerton at Goodwin Field. 

Fullerton (2-0) opened up a 6-0 lead after five innings and kept the Cardinal hitless until the sixth. Stanford (0-2) had three freshmen pitchers make their collegiate debuts, two other freshmen position players see their first collegiate action, and had a senior make his pitching debut.

After a perfect first inning, starter Brett Hanewich walked three in the second, and was relieved by freshman Erik Miller. The southpaw entered for his collegiate debut with the bases loaded and one out. A high-bouncer cleared the reach of first baseman Matt Winaker to score two, and another run was walked in to make it 3-0 after two. Hanewich was charged with all three runs.

Miller put up back-to-back zeros after that, but was touched up for the first time when Taylor Bryant hit a two-out, three-run home run for a 6-0 advantage.

Sophomore Brandon Wulff was Stanford's first baserunner with a walk in the fifth, and Duke Kinamon broke up the no-hitter in the sixth. Kinamon scored from third on Brodey's single through the left side.

Two other freshmen made their pitching debuts for the Cardinal. Zach Grech pitched the sixth and Jack Little took over in the seventh. The Titans added two runs in the sixth, one unearned.

Senior Jack Klein, Stanford's everyday centerfielder, pitched a scoreless eighth in his first pitching appearance as a Cardinal.

NUMBERS…
Miller's final line included 3.2 innings, seven hits, three earned runs, three walks and two strikeouts … Little struck out the side in a scoreless inning … Freshman Andrew Daschbach singled in his first collegiate at-bat as a pinch-hitter in the ninth.


AND NOTABLES
Freshman Will Matthiessen also made his debut as a defensive replacement at first base in the ninth … Grech and Little were teammates at Bishop Gorman High School (Las Vegas) last year, and were teammates with Wulff last year … Klein was drafted a pitcher by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2016 MLB Draft … Winaker has played in a team-high 70 straight games for the Cardinal.

UP NEXT
One more game remains with Fullerton. The two teams are set to meet again on Sunday at 1 p.m. Stanford also has a scheduled game with Cal Poly on Monday at 1 p.m., weather permitting. Follow Stanford baseball on twitter and Instagram (stanfordbsb), and on Facebook for the latest updates.

#GoStanford