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Box Score

EUGENE, Ore. – No. 4 Stanford was firing on all cylinders in a dominant 20-5 win over Oregon on Friday afternoon at PK Park.

"This was a great effort by our guys and it was terrific to see a lot of them put it together today," said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "It's been a slow process with getting our guys comfortable at the plate, and that happens sometimes, but they've kept at it and it showed today. Oregon is a dangerous team and tomorrow will be a battle, so we'll need to come ready to play."

Andrew Daschbach hit two of Stanford's five home runs, finishing 4-for-5 with four RBI and four runs while Will Matthiessen (W, 3-1) earned the win with a career-high 5.0 innings of one-run ball on the mound, also going 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs and three RBI. Maverick Handley went 4-for-5 with three runs and his first home run of the season, Brandon Wulff was 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and four runs, Duke Kinamon went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI and Brandon Dieter hit his first career home run. Kyle Stowers (2-for-5 with one run) and Tim Tawa (2-for-6 with one run) also had multi-hit games while Nick Brueser finished with a career-high three RBI, going 2-for-5.

The Cardinal (26-6-0, 12-2-0 Pac-12) wasted no time taking the lead with the first five batters scoring in the top of the first. Stowers and Handley, who started the game with a pair of singles, scored on Matthiessen's bases-loaded double and Dascbach made it 5-0 with a three-run home run to the opposite field, scoring Matthiessen and Wulff.

Matthiessen worked a one-two-three bottom half and pitched through a pair of two-out base runners in the second before Wulff's third home run of the series, a drive to the deepest part of the park in straightaway centerfield, made it 6-0 in the third.

The Ducks (22-14-0, 7-7-0) chipped into Stanford's lead in the fourth through Gabe Matthews' lead-off solo home run, but the Cardinal struck right back in the fifth. Handley led off the inning with a double and Wulff brought him in with an RBI double to make it 7-1. Matthiessen's third hit of the day, a bullet single to left, scored Wulff to make it 8-1 and Duke Kinamon's two-out single to the opposite field brought in two more runs, one of which was unearned after a throwing error by the Ducks.

Matthiessen issued a lead-off walk in the fifth but struck out the next two batters he faced while Handley threw out the runner at second base for a double play on Matthiessen's first strikeout. Matthiessen's final line included six strikeouts while allowing just two hits and one run – his 92 pitches were also a career high.

Stanford unleashed a seven-run sixth inning, starting with Handley's lead-off blast to left center. Brueser's bases-loaded single put two more runs on the board to make it 13-1 before Dieter, who entered as a defensive replacement in the fifth, hit his first career home run, a three-run shot to left field to bring in Brueser and Tawa.

Cody Jensen relieved Matthiessen to start the sixth, working a scoreless frame before Daschbach's second home run of the day made it 18-1 in the seventh. Jensen returned in the bottom of the seventh, stranding two runners for another zero on the board.

Oregon got four runs in the bottom of the eighth as Taylor Adams took Nicolas Lopez, who entered to start the inning, deep for a grand slam to make it 18-5. Stanford got two of the runs back in the top of the ninth – Brueser drove in a run with a bases-loaded single and another run came across as Dieter grounded into a bases-loaded double play with no outs.

The series wraps up on Saturday with the first pitch set for Noon. Live streaming and live statistics will be available at GoStanford.com

Cardinal Notes

  • Stanford's 24 hits were the most since the Cardinal set a program record with 28 at Utah on May 5, 2018. The Cardinal's 20 runs were the most since Stanford plated 25 in the same game.
  • Handley's four hits were a career high while Matthiessen (3), Wulff (3) and Daschbach (4) tied their career highs.
  • Wulff's home run was his third of the series and team-leading 11th of the season. Wulff's seven homers in Pac-12 play leads the team, ahead of Daschbach's five.
  • Handley and Wulff each finished a triple shy of the cycle. 
  • The Cardinal has multiple home runs in six of its last eight games and 19 during that span.
  • Handley threw out Oregon's only stolen base attempt of the day – Handley has thrown out all three attempts during the series and nine of 16 on the season.
  • It was Stanford's 11th game of the season with 10 or more hits.