STANFORD, Calif. – Nick Bellafronto hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift No. 3 Stanford to a comeback, 11-10 win over Gonzaga on Monday at Sunken Diamond.
"These guys really have some toughness about them," said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "We did this a lot last year and this team has proven they can win in games like this as well. A lot of guys stepped up today – Bellafronto had a couple plays he would probably like to have back but he came through for us in the end, and you have to credit Lopez for coming back after a tough outing last weekend and setting us up for the win."
Bellafronto, who finished 3-for-5 with his first career home run, three RBI and two runs, reached base four times on the day, poking a single through the left side in the bottom of the ninth to complete Stanford's comeback. The Cardinal (28-6-0) trailed 10-6 going into the home half of the eighth and 10-8 entering the bottom of the ninth, scoring five unanswered runs after the Bulldogs (19-17-0) plated nine unanswered across the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Lopez (W, 1-0) worked a one-two-three top of the ninth after Nick Brueser's first career homer in the eighth made it 10-8.
First career HR ? Great hair ? Walk-off winner ? What a day for @nick_bella. #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Apr 22, 2019 at 5:17pm PDT
Andrew Daschbach hit his eighth home run of the season, finishing 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI and two runs, Maverick Handley finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and Will Matthiessen finished 2-for-5.
The Cardinal raced out to a four-run lead in the second inning, starting with Daschbach's solo blast to left field. Bellafronto's single up the middle scored Duke Kinamon, who reached base with a one-out double into the left-field corner, and Bellafronto crossed home plate on Stowers' double to right. Stowers came home on a Handley single down the left-field line to give Jensen the lead.
Jensen, making his first career start, finished 3.0 innings while scattering one hit and one walk, surrendering one run. Carson Rudd relieved Jensen to start the fourth, working a one-two-three frame to start his outing. Bellafronto's first career home run in the home half made it 5-1. In the fifth, Stowers, who hit his second double of the day, scored on Matthiessen's line-drive single to left field, making it 6-1 in favor of Stanford, but Gonzaga scored six runs in the sixth to take the lead.
After Jacob Palisch relieved Rudd, two runs crossed on a bases-loaded blooper to left and another crossed on a fielding error by the Cardinal. Nick Nyquist hit a grand slam to make it 7-6 before Palisch retired the side. Gonzaga added another run in the seventh with Nyquist driving a 2-out RBI single to left field to make it 8-6, further extending the lead with a pair of runs in the eighth.
WATCH | @nick_brueser becomes the 2nd Cardinal named Nick (@nickbellafronto) to hit his 1st career home run. Deficit is down to 2 after Gonzaga scored 9 unanswered.
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 22, 2019
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??: 10#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/so4ZciUcVx
Stanford's comeback started with Brueser's two-run shot in the eighth before Lopez took over in the ninth. Lopez got two weak grounders before striking out the final batter he faced, setting up Stanford's ninth-inning rally. Handley and Wulff started the inning with a pair of walks and Matthiessen's blooped single to right field scored Handley, making it a one-run game. Daschbach's single scored Wulff to tie it up before Bellafronto's game-winning single, a sharply-hit grounder through the left side to bring home pinch runner Alec Wilson from third.
No. 3 Stanford returns to action on Tuesday when it plays host to San Jose State at 6 p.m. Pac-12 play continues this weekend when the Cardinal welcomes Arizona to Sunken Diamond, starting Friday at 6 p.m. Live streaming and live statistics for all four games will be available at GoStanford.com.
Cardinal Notes
- Stanford is 11-2 in one-run games.
- It was the Cardinal's fourth walk-off win of the season.
- Daschbach's home run was his fourth in three games.
- It was Stanford's eighth game of the season allowing five or more earned runs.
- Zach Grech entered with two outs in the seventh, allowing two earned runs in 1.1 innings.
- The Cardinal has hit multiple homers in eight of its last 10 games with 24 total home runs in that span.