STANFORD, Calif. – Andrew Daschbach and Tim Tawa hit home runs and No. 2 Stanford claimed a comeback, 2-1 series win over Cal with a 5-2 triumph on Saturday night at Sunken Diamond.
"Our guys have a toughness about them which I am very proud of," said Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "We preach resiliency a lot – our assistant coaches do a great job of coming in every day and preparing our guys for what's next."
The victory enabled Stanford (33-6 overall, 14-4 Pac-12) to pull into a first-place tie with UCLA atop the conference standings, two games ahead of third-place Oregon State.
Daschbach and Tawa each finished with two RBI, and Beau Branton led Stanford with two hits and two runs. The Cardinal won its 18th straight with Kris Bubic starting – the junior left hander struck out seven over 5.1 innings to earn the win.
The Cardinal scored all of its runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, starting with Tawa's seventh home run of the season into the trees beyond the left-field fence. Maverick Handley came home on a wild pitch in the fourth before Daschbach's twelfth of the season in the fifth, a two-run shot to left center.
Bombs away. @tim.tawa @andy_dash #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Apr 28, 2018 at 8:48pm PDT
Bubic (6-0) lasted 5.1 innings with one run from the Golden Bears (24-17, 10-11) charged to his record, allowing five hits and two walks. Bubic departed with one out and the bases loaded in the sixth. Zach Grech relieved him, limiting the damage to one run and striking out the final out to strand the bases loaded.
Grech's high school classmate Jack Little replaced him with one out in the seventh, securing the final eight outs while striking out four and allowing one hit, a solo home run in the eighth inning.
"It's a little bit of a relief to be done with this series," said Esquer, who spent the previous 18 seasons as head coach at Cal. "I can't say it was a comfortable series for me – there are a bunch of kids over there that I have very strong relationships with. To get the win for Stanford and to represent Stanford with my family here is very satisfying."
No. 2 Stanford returns to action on Tuesday, hosting San Francisco at 6 p.m. PT. Live streaming and statistics will be available at GoStanford.com. The Cardinal continues its Pac-12 slate when it opens a three-game series at Utah starting Friday. All three games will start at 10:30 a.m. PT and air on Pac-12 Networks.
Cardinal Notes
- It was the 22nd game this season in which Stanford has allowed two or fewer earned runs.
- Stanford's win streak with Bubic on the hill dates to April 14, 2017. The Cardinal has won each of Bubic's 10 starts in 2018.
- Little's ERA stands at 0.96 – he has allowed 18 base runners (14 hits, four walks) in 28.0 innings.
- Kyle Stowers' reached base streak extended to 18 games, while Nico Hoerner's hit streak stands at eight.
--#GoStanford--