EUGENE, Ore. – Sophomore southpaw Kris Bubic outdueled one of the hottest pitchers in the nation, and Stanford held on to win the series opener at No. 25 Oregon, 4-3, on Friday night.
Bubic earned the win, and junior Colton Hock moved into sole possession of second place on Stanford's all-time career saves list.
Hock got the last eight outs and left the tying and go-ahead run on base in the seventh and ninth for his 18th career save. It also marked Hock's ninth save of the year, which is tied for fourth-most in a season in program history, and is the most since Matt Manship had nine in 2003.
Bubic (3-6) struck out seven and allowed just two earned runs and five hits in 6.1 innings. He got some early offensive support aided by two-hit games from freshman Daniel Bakst and senior Jack Klein.
Oregon's David Peterson—recently named National Pitcher of the Week in back-to-back weeks—had a 0.56 ERA in his last seven starts and had not allowed more than one earned run since Feb. 24.
Stanford (21-12, 6-7 Pac-12) was unfazed. Matt Winaker led off the game with a single back up the middle. Two batters later, Bakst doubled him home for a 1-0 lead.
The Cardinal tacked on two more in the second. Sophomore Brandon Wulff singled home Mikey Diekroeger, who was hit by a pitch and bunted into scoring position. Wulff went to third on a double to right by freshman catcher Maverick Handley, and then raced home on a shallow fly out to left from Matt Winaker.
A solo shot in the home half of the second made it 3-1, but that was the only big blemish for Bubic.
Klein gave the Cardinal a three-run lead with an RBI single in the sixth. It was Stanford's third straight single, and second baseman Duke Kinamon scored from second with the eventual game-winning run.
Bubic got one out in the sixth, but relinquished the mound with a runner on second. Freshman Erik Miller surrendered a walk and hit, and Hock entered with a two-run lead and two on.
The Ducks (23-11, 6-7 Pac-12) managed a single to get within, 4-3, with two outs. Then with runners at second and third, it looked like Oregon would take the lead when Matthew Dyer pushed one between first and second. However, Kinamon dove to his left, corralled it, and fired to first to get Dyer and maintain Stanford's lead.
Holy ??! @DukeKinamon saves the day! #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Apr 21, 2017 at 8:42pm PDT
Oregon got a one-out double and walk in the ninth, but a soft ground out and strike out ended the game, and moved Hock up the Stanford record books.
NUMBERS…
Hock allowed just two hits and struck out three in 2.2 scoreless innings of relief. Klein was 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Bakst was 2-for-4 with a run batted in. Winaker, Diekroger and Wulff were each 1-for-3 with a run. Stanford managed 10 hits off of Peterson, and out-hit the Ducks, 10-8.
AND NOTABLES
Freshman Daniel Bakst has a hit in 18 of the last 19 games and all but one game in his career when he has at least three at-bats … Klein had back-to-back multi-hit games and is up to six this season and 19 for his career … Hock is one save away from becoming the third Cardinal pitcher with 10 saves in a season (Jeff Bruksch had 13 in 2000, and Steve Chitren had 13 in 1987 and 10 in 1988) ... Chitren holds the school record with 26 career saves ... Stanford won its first Pac-12 series opener of the season (1-4).
WHAT'S AHEAD
Junior Andrew Summerville takes the hill for Stanford in the middle game of the three-game set. First pitch against the Ducks on Saturday is at 2 p.m. at PK Park.
SCENE
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#GoStanford
Congratulations, @Hockeye!
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 22, 2017
Second all-time at Stanford with 18 career saves! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/ir9VqS82J0