STANFORD, Calif. – No. 2 Stanford's bullpen combined for seven innings in a 4-1 win over Pacific on Tuesday night at Sunken Diamond.
"Sometimes you run into games like these and they don't always go your way, but I'm proud of our guys for coming through in the end," said Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "All of our arms coming out of the bullpen did a phenomenal job, and I thought Carson Rudd's innings were the biggest part of the game for us."
Zach Grech, Will Matthiessen, Daniel Bakst, Rudd and Jack Little allowed just five base runners (two hits, three walks) over the final seven frames, striking out seven with Matthiessen (2-0) earning the win. Little, who struck out all three batters he faced, earned his 12th save.
Rudd set up Little, coming in with one out in the seventh to retire five straight batters, including three strikeouts. Nico Hoerner led the offense with one run and two hits, including a triple into the left-field corner. Beau Branton and Andrew Daschbach accounted for both of Stanford's RBI, with Tim Tawa, Jesse Kuet and pinch runner Christian Molfetta scoring runs.
The Tigers (15-24, 6-12 WCC) took the lead in the fourth inning with an unearned run, but the Cardinal (31-5, 12-3 Pac-12) responded with the tying run in the bottom half. After Tim Tawa and Nico Hoerner led off the inning with back-to-back hits, Andrew Daschbach's sacrifice fly brought home Tawa.
Branton singled home Kuet in the fifth, and Stanford added runs in the sixth and the eighth via wild pitches to give Little a three-run cushion. Stanford outfielders made two spectacular plays to end innings, starting in the second with Christian Robinson. Robinson tracked a ball to the warning track in left-center field, securing the final out before slamming into the wall, and Alec Wilson made a headlong diving play in right field to end the fourth inning.
"I've probably played 100 games like this in my career and lost 99 of them," added Esquer. "It's hard to win when we play like that, but our guys kept pushing and grinding and I give them lots of credit for that."
No. 2 Stanford returns to Sunken Diamond for a three-game series against California, starting Thursday night. All three games will air on Pac-12 Networks at 7 p.m. PT with live statistics available at GoStanford.com.
Cardinal Notes
- It was the seventh game in which Stanford has not allowed an earned run.
- It was Stanford's fourth straight come-from-behind win tonight after earning a three-game sweep at Arizona over the weekend.
- Austin Weiermiller made his second career start, throwing 2.0 innings, allowing one hit and three walks.
- Hoerner's multi-hit game was his 12th of the season, which leads the team.
- Kyle Stowers extended his reached-base streak to 15 games.
- Beau Branton's hit streak extended to nine games.