TEMPE, Ariz. – Will Matthiessen earned the win in relief and drove in the game-winning run in the eighth inning to lift No. 12 Stanford to a 6-1 win over Pepperdine on Sunday at Diablo Field.
"I tip my cap to Erik Miller and Will Matthiessen," said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "It took us a while to finally get the bats going and those guys really kept us in a game that was much closer than the score indicated. This was probably the best we've ever seen Matthiessen on the mound."
Starting pitcher Miller tied a career high with nine strikeouts, exiting after 5.0 innings while allowing four hits and two walks. Matthiessen, who started at designated hitter, replaced him, tossing the final four frames with a career-high six strikeouts. Matthiessen drove in the winning run with a double in the bottom of the eighth, part of a five-run inning.
The Cardinal (3-0-0) struck first after Miller struck out the side in the top half of the first. Stowers reached on an error and Tim Tawa's double to left field brought him home. Pepperdine responded with a run of its own in the second when Duncan McKinnon's two-out single brought home Matt Kanfer.
The Waves (3-1-0) threatened again in the third, but Miller pitched through a jam with two runners on, upping his strikeout total to seven after 3.0 innings pitched. The junior continued to mow down the Waves, adding another strikeout in a 1-2-3 fourth and his ninth in the fifth. The fifth ended when Maverick Handley fired a seed to Brandon Dieter at second to catch Quincy McAfee attempting to steal.
Handley led off the home half of the fifth with a walk and stole second, but was eventually stranded at third. Matthiessen replaced Miller to start the sixth, striking out the side to pitch through a pair of baserunners.
Stanford stranded a pair of runners in the bottom of the sixth and Matthiessen pitched through another jam in the seventh. The junior allowed a one-out triple down the right-field line, but induced a pair of ground balls to escape unscathed before working a quick, 1-2-3 eighth.
Stanford finally got the breakthrough in the home half of the eighth with a flurry of hits. Matthiessen started the surge with a double to center to score Andrew Daschbach, who reached on an error, setting up Austin Kretschmar's first career hit, an RBI single to left to bring home Matthiessen. Christian Robinson made it 4-1 with a double off the top of the right-field wall, eventually scoring on Handley's single up the middle.
Stowers roped a double into the left-field gap to score Handley and give Matthiessen a healthy lead in the ninth. Matthiessen finished the job with a 1-2-3 ninth, earning the win.
"Tomorrow will be another tough test for us," added Esquer. "Grand Canyon is a postseason team with a lot of firepower, but it's a great opportunity for us."
No. 12 Stanford wraps up its four-game road trip on Monday when it squares off against Grand Canyon at Noon PT at Grand Canyon Ballpark in Tempe, Arizona. Freshman righty Alex Williams makes his collegiate debut for the Cardinal. Live streaming and statistics will be available at GoStanford.com.
Cardinal Notes
- Miller previously fanned nine against Rice on Feb. 22, 2018.
- Stanford's 15 strikeouts were the most since the Cardinal struck out 15 against San Francisco on May 1, 2018.
- Matthiessen's 4.0 innings tied a career high (vs. UC Davis on Feb. 28, 2017)
- Brandon Wulff finished 2-for-4.
- Handley, Stowers, Daschbach, Matthiessen, Kretzschmar and Robinson each scored once.
- Handley reached base twice after reaching base four times in Saturday's win over Wichita State.