STANFORD, Calif. - Fundamental baseball and alert baserunning helped No. 17 Stanford earn a 5-1 win in the series finale with Utah on Sunday at Sunken Diamond.
The Cardinal won its opening Pac-12 series to improve to 13-6 overall and 2-1 in conference play, and has now won the last 10 games started by senior Chris Castellanos.
Castellanos allowed just two hits in 6.1 innings, and his only blemish was a solo home run in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Stanford found a variety of ways to score.
The Cardinal got its first run without a hit in the bottom of the first. Junior Matt Winaker drew a lead off walk, stole second and advanced to third on the throwing error. He scored on the next pitch when Nico Hoerner brought him home on a ground out.
After Utah (10-11, 1-5 Pac-12) tied the game, Stanford immediately responded with some small ball. With Winaker at first and one out, Hoerner connected on a hit-and-run to put runners at the corners. Junior Quinn Brodey hit a deep fly to left center to give the Cardinal a 2-1 lead.
B5: Fundamentals are fun! ?? @nico_hoerner hit-and-run sets up a Brodey sac fly and Stanford is back in front, 2-1 pic.twitter.com/TYavDEGsTx
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) March 26, 2017
Utah threatened in the seventh with runners at the corners and one out. But southpaw Andrew Summerville came in to force left-hander Josh Rose to pop out for the second out. Then junior closer Colton Hock entered and got a weak ground out to first to end the inning.
In the bottom half, Stanford added some insurance with some heads-up base running. Hoerner, who finished with three hits for the second straight game, singled and moved to second when Brodey walked. Freshman Daniel Bakst hit a shot to the right side. It was gobbled up at first and Brodey was thrown out at second, but Bakst beat the throw back to first. Meanwhile, Hoerner never stopped running and sprinted home. The throw was high, Stanford went up two, and Bakst moved to second where he would score on a single from junior Jesse Kuet.
Then in the eighth, senior Jack Klein, who started for the first time since returning from an injury that sidelined him for 12 games, singled with one out. He went to second on an errant pick off attempt, took third on a passed ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Winaker.
Hock did not allow a run and earned his sixth save of the year.
NUMBERS...
Hoerner was 3-for-5, while Kinamon finished 2-for-3. In the last two games, the duo has combined for 12 hits.
AND NOTABLES
Hock tied a career high with his sixth save of the season, and now ranks sixth all-time at Stanford with 15 career saves (tied with Drew Storen, Tony Cogan and Tom Reimers) ... Stanford is now 10-0 this season when scoring more than three runs and has won 13 straight dating back to last season ... The Cardinal is 10-2 at home this season.
WHAT'S AHEAD
Five games remain on the eight-game homestand. Next up is a Tuesday matinee against Long Beach State, followed by a visit from No. 2 Oregon State. Tuesday is a rare 2:30 p.m. start and another opportunity to take advantage of the Two for Tuesday deal -- $9 in honor of the #FinalSeas9n. This weekend features Trading Card giveaways (Friday), Bark at the Park (Saturday) and another autograph and run the bases day (Sunday).
SOCIAL SCENE
For the latest updates, you can follow Cardinal baseball all year long on instagram, twitter and snapchat (@StanfordBSB).
Series clincher #GoStanford ?? https://t.co/Wu82v86GJc
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) March 27, 2017
#GoStanford