DAVIS, Calif. – No. 12 Stanford extended its season-opening winning streak to four games with a 3-2 win over UC Davis on Monday at Phil Swimley Field.
"These midweek games are always a true test, especially coming off a big three-game series at home against a ranked opponent," said Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "Pitching and defense are what this team is built around, and that was on display again today with Nico [Hoerner], Maverick [Handley] and Beau [Branton] coming through with big plays down the stretch."
Freshman Brendan Beck got the call for his first career start, earning the win after going 5.2 innings with five hits, three strikeouts and two runs allowed. Jack Little earned his second save in as many attempts, and Hoerner had his third two-hit game of the season.
Hoerner led off the top of the first with a single up the middle, eventually scoring on a heads-up play after Brandon Wulff's infield single.
Tim Tawa continued the strong start to his Cardinal career, singling home Andrew Daschbach with two outs in the fourth to make it 2-0. Tawa scored to make it 3-0 after Bryce Carter reached on an error, and that was all Beck and Stanford's staff would need for the win.
Beck's only blemish came in the sixth inning when he gave up a two-run home run to make the score 3-2 in favor of Stanford. John Henry Styles replaced him with two outs and two on, forcing a ground ball on his first pitch. Defensive substitution Beau Branton made a spectacular diving play up the middle to end the inning and preserve the lead.
"We really needed a lot from Brendan today and he gave us just that," said Esquer. "He realistically made one real mistake and it was late in his outing, so we were overall very pleased with him today."
Styles pitched the seventh before Zach Grech entered in the eighth. The Aggies belted a leadoff triple to center field, but Hoerner threw out the lead runner at home on the next play. Handley caught an Aggie trying to steal second, and Grech produced a third out to escape the jam. Little struck out two of three batters in the final frame to earn the save, Stanford's third in four games.
Stanford returns home this week to host Rice in a four-game series, starting Thursday at 6 p.m. PT. Friday's game will also start at 6 p.m., with Saturday set for 1 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. Live streaming and statistics will be available at GoStanford.com for all four contests.
Cardinal Notes
- Christian Molfetta made his first career start at catcher.
- Bryce Carter made his first appearance of the season, starting at third base.
- Styles' appearances was his first of 2018, finishing with 1.1 innings pitched while giving up one hit.
- Duke Kinamon remains sidelined with an injury sustained last week.