LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Junior Matt Winaker hit two home runs and drove in three, but it was not enough as No. 20 Stanford fell at USC, 7-5, in its first Pac-12 road game of the season on Thursday.
Winaker had Stanford's first lead off home run in six years and the first two-home run performance since Alex Blandino at St. Mary's on April 23, 2014. However, the Trojans used a four-run fourth to take the lead and hold off Winaker and the Cardinal.
To lead off the game, Winaker worked a nine-pitch at-bat that culminated in a blast over the centerfield wall. It was Stanford's first leadoff home run since Tyler Gaffney did so in back-to-back Regional games in 2010.
Sophomore starter Kris Bubic had little trouble the first time through the Trojans order and retired the first two in the third. But USC used three two-out hits in to take a 2-1 lead.
Stanford (15-10, 2-5 Pac-12) immediately responded with some of its own clutch hitting. Maverick Handley was down 0-2 in the count with two outs and runners on the corners. The freshman worked the count full, and then launched one into the gap in left centerfield to score both runs and give the Cardinal a 3-2 advantage.
However, the first four Trojans reached in the fourth, and all four came home to score to make it 6-3.
Winaker, who was 2-for-2 with two runs, two walks and added some stellar defensive play, hit a two-run homer over the Dedeaux Field scoreboard in right center to bring Stanford within 6-5 in the seventh.
Senior Tyler Thorne provided some valuable and effective innings out of the pen. He went 4.2 innings and his only blemish was a solo home run in the eighth.
Total workhorse?? in relief tonight #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Apr 6, 2017 at 9:02pm PDT
NUMBERS…
Thorne walked one, struck out one and gave up just six hits in his long relief outing. Keith Weisenberg faced one batter in the eighth and got the final out for the Cardinal. Bubic struck out three and allowed six runs, though only four were earned on six hits.
AND NOTABLES
Freshman Daniel Bakst extended Stanford's longest hitting streak of the season to 11 games with a double to start the fourth … Bakst has the longest hit streak for Stanford since Brodey had a 14-game stretch at the end of last season, and just the third 11+ hit streak for Stanford in the last three years … The last freshman with an 11-game hit streak was Beau Branton (11 in 2015) … The Cardinal lost for just the second time this year when scoring more than three runs … Stanford has dropped the opening game of all three Pac-12 series this season.
TURN IT UP TO ELEVEN! ????@DanielBakst extends his streak with a leadoff double to left to start the 4th inning #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/bNKG5mcWjd
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 7, 2017
WHAT'S AHEAD
Two more games in Los Angeles. The series continues on Pac-12 Network at 7 p.m. on Friday night, and concludes Saturday at 2 p.m. The Cardinal returns to the Bay Area for a midweek matchup at San Jose State (7 p.m.) on Tuesday, and hosts UCLA for three at Sunken Diamond, April 13-15. On April 14, the giveaway is a Stanford baseball trading card pack (No. 3 of 5), and April 15 is Honoring Our Heroes Day where all troops receive free admission.
SOCIAL SCENE
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