STANFORD, Calif. – Brendan Beck tossed 6.0 innings of one-run ball to earn the win in No. 5 Stanford's series-opening 8-2 win over Washington on Friday night at Sunken Diamond.
"It was a solid Friday night win. Beck did a great job for us after they landed a punch early, and we landed a few of our own shortly thereafter and stayed after it," said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "Washington is very capable – their best pitchers are on the back end of the rotation, so we'll be ready for a fight over the next couple of games."
Beck (W, 2-2) finished with six strikeouts while allowing one run on three hits while Brandon Wulff and Andrew Daschbach, who scored twice and finished 2-for-4, hit home runs. Kyle Stowers finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI, Duke Kinamon stole a pair of bases and finished 2-for-4 and Nick Bellafronto scored twice with one RBI.
The Huskies (15-13-0, 4-8-0 Pac-12) took the early lead with a solo home run off the bat of Connor Blair in the second inning, but the Cardinal (22-5-0, 8-2-0) fought back with three runs in their next two frames. Kinamon's two-out double tied it up, 1-1, in the second and Wulff's two-out, two-run blast in the third made it 3-1, Cardinal.
WATCH | @brandon_wulff's line shot to left leaves the yard in a hurry to put the Cardinal on top. ??: @Pac12Network
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 13, 2019
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Beck settled in after allowing the home run, picking up strikeouts in the second, third and fourth innings, adding a pair in the fifth – Beck stranded two runners in the fifth for a shutdown inning after Stanford put up four runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Daschbach led off the fourth with a solo home run, his fifth of the season, and Bellafronto's safety squeeze to score Kinamon made it 5-1. Stowers' bloop single made it 6-1 before Maverick Handley's sacrifice fly to deep centerfield put Stanford ahead by six.
WATCH | Just as @E_Rex23 starts his interview with @Pac12Network, Andrew Daschbach does this.
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 13, 2019
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After pitching through trouble in the fifth, Beck added a sixth punchout in the sixth, pitching through an error and stranding a runner for another zero on the board, his fourth straight, before making way for Zach Grech.
Washington put two aboard with a pair of infield singles in the seventh, but Grech induced a double-play ground ball to Kinamon before stranding a runner at third with a fly out to Brueser in right field. Grech pitched another shutout inning in the eighth before turning the ball over to Carson Rudd. Washington put a run on the board, forcing Stanford to turn to Cody Jensen with one away. Jensen got a pair of pop-ups to strand two runners and seal the deal for the Cardinal.
No. 5 Stanford returns to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks and on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the series finale. Live statistics will be available at GoStanford.com.
Cardinal Notes
- It was the seventh game of the season with multiple Stanford home runs and the third straight.
- Wulff's home run was his third in five games.