STANFORD, Calif. – No. 22 Stanford swept a doubleheader and won the four-game series over Texas on Saturday at Sunken Diamond. Junior Quinn Brodey's second consecutive walk off gave Stanford a 5-2 win in Game 1, and some stellar pitching clinched the sweep in the nightcap, 2-1.
Junior reliever Colton Hock (3-0) earned the win in Game 1 and recorded the save in Game 2. Stanford (9-3), which played nine games in 10 days (went 8-1), has won nine of its last 10. The only loss in that span was a 4-0 setback in the series opener against the Longhorns on Thursday, but the Cardinal rebounded to win the final three games.
Game 1
Just 18 hours after his game-winning walk off single, Quinn Brodey did it again. The junior blasted a three-run walk off home run in the 10th inning to give Stanford a 5-2 win over Texas in the first game of a doubleheader.
Both of Brodey's walk offs came with two out. Saturday's winner was set up when sophomore Alec Wilson led of the 10th with a double. After a strikeout, Duke Kinamon was intentionally walked. A fielder's choice brought up Brodey, who muscled one the opposite way – it bounced off the top off the wall and out, and sparked another Cardinal celebration.
Texas scored in its first at bat for the second straight game. David Hamilton singled and scored on a double to left by Zane Gurwitz. Stanford got two hits in the second when Mikey Diekroeger and Daniel Bakst each singled, but both were left on.
After that, neither team had a hit between the third and sixth innings.
Freshman starter Erik Miller retired 16 of the 17 batters he faced after the first inning. He finished with three strikeouts in a career-best 7 1/3 innings, and allowed just four hits, two walks and two runs.
Texas' second run came in the eighth on a walk, bunt and single. Junior Keith Weisenberg relieved Miller and left the bases loaded to keep it a 2-0 game.
Stanford's underclassmen responded with the Cardinal's first run in the home half of the eighth. Freshman Daniel Bakst singled to right and sophomore Christian Molfetta entered as a pinch runner for his first collegiate action. Molfetta stole second and scored when freshman Kyle Stowers pinch hit and ripped a single through the right side.
In the ninth, Nico Hoerner and Brodey singled to start the inning. Hoerner scored from third on a double play ball to send the game into extras.
Junior Colton Hock needed just six pitches to retire Texas in the 10th. That set up Brodey's heroics for the second time in 18 hours.
NUMBERS…
Brodey was 3-for-5 with a run and the three RBI. Diekroeger tallied his fifth multi-hit game with a 2-for-4 performance, and Bakst added his first career two-hit game (2-for-3).
AND NOTABLES
Stanford went 738 days between walk offs before Brodey registered two in 18 hours … Brodey's first walk off was a single that scored Matt Winaker to break a tie in the ninth inning on Friday … Stanford's last walk off was Feb. 24, 2015, but the last Stanford walk off home run was Tommy Edman's regional-winning homer at Indiana in 2014 … Stanford is 2-0 in extra innings this year.
Full highlights ?? from Game 1 today.
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) March 4, 2017
Lots of defense early, and a big GW blast late #GoStanford https://t.co/zfqNA7ggm7
Game 2
No. 22 Stanford held on for a 2-1 victory to complete the doubleheader sweep over Texas.
Senior starter Chris Castellanos (2-0) shut down the Longhorns through seven, and junior reliever Colton Hock slammed the door shut on the game and series with two more scoreless innings.
After two straight walk offs, Stanford took its first in-game lead of the series in the second inning. Mikey Diekroeger led off with a single, Kyle Stowers walked and Daniel Bakst singled to right to load the bases. Diekroeger came home on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.
Stanford (9-3) doubled its lead in the fifth when Quinn Brodey knocked home Matt Winaker with a two-out single to center.
The Longhorns (7-6) first hit of the day came in the sixth inning and also led to their first run. Austin Todd tripled off the left field wall and scored when the relay throw to the plate sailed to the backstop.
That was the only blemish for Castellanos, who struck out a career-high eight batters, did not give up a walk and allowed just four hits in 7.0 innings.
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Castellanos came out for the eighth, but gave way to Hock after a leadoff single. The Longhorns loaded the bases, but Hock got clean-up hitter Kacy Clemens to fly out to shallow left to end the inning.
In the ninth, an infield single and errant throw to first put the leadoff Longhorn on second. However, Hock got a shallow fly out, strike out, and another shallow fly to center to end the game and series.
NUMBERS
Brodey was 1-for-4 and had the game-winning RBI for the third straight game (all in 24 hours), while senior Alex Dunlap collected his team-leading sixth multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-4 performance. Winaker was 0-for-1 but drew two walks for the third time in the series. Hock allowed just one hit and two walks, and has not allowed a run in 10.2 innings this season.
NOTABLES
A doubleheader was played in order to avoid a likely rain out on Sunday … Sunday's game is officially canceled … Head Coach Mark Marquess is six wins away from becoming the fourth head coach in Division I history with 1,600 career wins … This is Stanford's best 12-game start since 2013 … Stanford is 9-1 when scoring a run this season, and 8-1 at home.
WHAT'S AHEAD
Following a stretch of nine games in 10 days, Stanford heads to Houston next week. The Cardinal visit Rice for a four-game set, beginning on Thursday. Stanford's next home series is the start of Pac-12 play as defending conference champion Utah comes to Sunken Diamond, March 24-26.
SOCIAL SCENE
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