Beck Brilliant in LossBeck Brilliant in Loss
Baseball

Beck Brilliant in Loss

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 6 Stanford's offense struggled to match the fantastic performance of starting pitcher Brendan Beck in a 4-0 loss against No. 12 Texas on Thursday night at Sunken Diamond.

"It was a great opening-night performance and Brendan has already done that for us quite a few times this season," said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "These are the kind of pitching performances we will need to beat quality teams, but we definitely struggled at the plate. This game came down to situational hitting and they came out on top because of that."

The Cardinal (9-3-0) managed just six hits with Christian Robinson and Brandon Dieter accounting for two apiece behind Beck (0-2), who set career highs in pitches (104) and innings pitched (8.0). Beck pitched through jams in the third and fourth innings, stranding a runner at third in each frame. Beck's 8.0 innings pitched were the most by a Stanford pitcher since Kris Bubic tossed 8.0 innings against Sacramento State on June 1, 2017.

Beck pitched into the ninth inning, striking out five before exiting the game with two runners on and no outs.

The Longhorns (12-3-0) plated four runs in the top of the ninth, two of which were charged to the record of Beck. Beck allowed a lead-off single and a walk before being replaced by Zach Grech. Grech got one out but walked in the first run of the game with the bases loaded and one out. Tate Shaw's bases-loaded single made it 3-0 before Grech was replaced by Cody Jensen. A wild pitch made it 4-0, and Nick Brueser's pinch-hit double in the bottom of the ninth was all Stanford could muster.

Stanford had its best chance to score in the fifth inning as Nick Bellafronto and Brandon Dieter reached base to start the inning, but both were stranded on first and second with the Cardinal offense struggling to move the runners over. The Cardinal also stranded a pair of runners in the eighth after Brandon Wulff and Andrew Daschbach drew two-out walks.

The four-game series continues on Friday at 6 p.m. with left-handed pitcher Jacob Palisch taking the hill for the Cardinal against Texas' Bryce Elder. Live streaming and statistics will be available at GoStanford.com.

Cardinal Notes

  • Maverick Handley threw out Shaw attempting to steal second in the fifth inning – Handley has thrown out both stolen base attempts against him this season.
  • Beck has thrown at least 6.0 innings in all four starts this season. It was his second straight start with 100 or more pitches.
  • Handley and Will Matthiessen have reached base safely in all 12 games this season.
  • The runs charged to Grech were the first of the season.
  • Kamron Fields earned the win.