STANFORD, Calif. – Freshman Austin Weiermiller earned the win in his first career appearance and No. 13 Stanford picked up a three-game sweep over No. 17 Cal State Fullerton on Sunday at Sunken Diamond.
"It felt great to be back at Sunken Diamond on this side of the field for the first time in a long time, and we couldn't have asked for a better start this week," said Clarke & Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "You've got to tip your cap to the job that Austin [Weiermiller] and [Kyle] Stowers did today, and those guys still have a lot to show. We're really pleased with the sweep and to see everyone back out at Sunken Diamond."
Weiermiller replaced starting pitcher Erik Miller in the top of the second, going four innings with two hits, no runs and two strikeouts to earn the win. Kyle Stowers escaped a jam in the top of the ninth to claim his first career save and Stanford's first season-opening sweep since a 3-0 sweep of Vanderbilt in 2012.
The Cardinal (3-0) fell behind, 2-0, in the top half of the first inning, but responded in the bottom half with four runs of its own. Daniel Bakst drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to center field, and Brandon Wulff singled to put two men on with Andrew Daschbach at the plate.
Daschbach tripled to right center, scoring Maverick Handley and Wulff and putting Stanford on top, 3-2, before Stowers made it 4-2 with a sacrifice fly of his own.
Stowers scored on a Jesse Kuet sacrifice fly in the fourth and Nico Hoerner's two-out double to drive in Alec Wilson in the sixth proved to be the winning run.
Weiermiller faced 16 batters, allowing just three base runners over four innings of work before Daniel Bakst came on in the sixth. The Tians (0-3) made it a one-run game after a Ruban Cardenas home run in the seventh, and Stowers came out in the ninth to try and earn the save.
After a leadoff walk, Stowers reached back to earn the game-ending strikeout for his first career save and Stanford's second of the weekend.
Stanford returns to action tomorrow when it travels to face UC Davis at 2 p.m. PT in Davis, California. Stanford is back at Sunken Diamond next week when it hosts Rice for a four-game series starting on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Cardinal Notes
- Carson Rudd made his collegiate debut in the seventh inning, retiring one batter and surrendering one hit.
- Palisch appeared for the second straight day after replacing Kris Bubic in Saturday's win over Fullerton.
- Miller faced eight batters, surrendering three runs (two earned), three walks and striking out one.
- Hoerner has hits in all three contests, finishing today 2-for-3 with a run and one RBI.
- Brandon Wulff went 3-for-3, upping his average to .500.
- Freshman Tim Tawa had two hits, finishing 2-for-4.
- Daschbach was the only Cardinal with multiple RBI, with Stowers, Bakst, Kuet and Hoerner accounting for the other four.