Stanford Stifled in OpenerStanford Stifled in Opener
Baseball

Stanford Stifled in Opener

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – Will Matthiessen homered and Tristan Beck battled into the eighth inning but No. 2 Stanford dropped the series opener at No. 3 Oregon State, 6-2, on Friday night at Goss Stadium.

"They jumped on us early, but I thought Tristan got stronger as the night went on and really kept us in it," said Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "Matthiessen came through with another big swing, but they were just better than we were tonight. It's never easy to get anything going when facing a pitcher throwing that well."

Starting pitcher Tristan Beck (7-3) took the loss, surrendering four earned runs and striking out five for the Cardinal (38-7 overall, 17-5 Pac-12). All of Beck's earned runs came in the first two innings, but he fought back to retire the next 10 batters and keep Stanford in the game.

Will Matthiessen hit his sixth home run in as many games for Stanford's only two runs of the night – Kyle Stowers reached base with a double in the fifth before Matthiessen's shot beyond the left field wall.

Luke Heimlich (12-1) was credited with the win, striking out a career-high 14 in 8.0 innings. Stanford only mustered five base runners on the night with three hits and two walks. The Beavers' (37-7-1, 15-6-1) Adley Rutschman and Michael Gretler made it 3-0 with two-out RBI hits in the first, and Oregon State plated a fourth run with a sacrifice fly in the second.

@t_beck07 battled hard, but #2 Stanford drops the series opener at #3 Oregon State. We're back tomorrow for Game 2 at 2 pm PT. #GoStanford

A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on May 11, 2018 at 9:54pm PDT

Andrew Daschbach's walk in the second inning was Stanford's only base runner in the first four frames before Stowers doubled in the fifth. Matthiessen's home run was his sixth in as many games after earning Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on Monday. Oregon State restored its four-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, plating two unearned runs after a fielding error.

No. 2 Stanford and No. 3 Oregon State will play Game 2 of the three-game series on Saturday at 2 p.m. The contest will air on Pac-12 Networks with live statistics available at GoStanford.com.

Cardinal Notes

  • Austin Weiermiller replaced Beck in the eighth, striking out two and preventing more damage after inheriting a runner on second.
  • Alec Wilson had Stanford's only other hit, a two-out single in the eighth inning.
  • Matthiessen, who was also named Perfect Game National Player of the Week, entered last week with no career home runs – he now has six in his last six games, including four in Stanford last three.
  • Catcher Maverick Handley is out for the series with an arm injury.
  • The attendance of 3,830 was a Goss Stadium record.