STANFORD, Calif. – Brendan Beck tossed 7.0 shutout innings and No. 4 Stanford blasted four home runs in an 11-0 win over Sacramento State on Friday at Sunken Diamond.
"Great performance from our guys, especially Brendan who was brilliant for us," said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "We shook off a bit of a slow start and started to produce some runs, and we sustained that offense to the end. We're thrilled with this start and we'll be ready to play again tomorrow."
The Cardinal (42-11-0) hit four home runs for the seventh time this season and Beck (W, 5-3) was spectacular in his second career postseason start to earn the win. Will Matthiessen, Maverick Handley, Andrew Daschbach and pinch hitter Nick Oar each homered and Stanford plated 10 runs in the final five innings after a slow start. Nick Bellafronto reached base three times, driving in a pair and scoring twice, and Brandon Wulff added two hits with an RBI and a run.
Beck pitched through a jam in the opening frame. The Hornets' (39-24-0) lead-off hitter reached on a fielding error and Beck worked past a two-out walk to strand both baserunners. The Cardinal hit the ball hard in the home half but a double play and a fine play at shortstop for the final out spelled a scoreless frame.
Both teams traded scoreless frames in the second before Beck allowed his first hit of the day in the third, a lead-off single. Beck got a fly out and a strikeout before Handley threw out Bronson Grubbs attempting to steal second to end the inning. Stanford broke the tie in the home half as Matthiessen's sacrifice fly to deep left-centerfield brought home Handley to make it 1-0.
Beck delivered a shutdown inning in the fourth, picking up two strikeouts along the way, before the Cardinal plated four runs in the bottom half. Bellafronto's double scored Duke Kinamon and Tim Tawa and Kinamon came home on a sacrifice fly by Stowers to make it 4-0. Handley's two-out, solo home run made it a four spot, pushing the lead to 5-0.
Beck pitched another shutout inning in the fifth, getting an inning-ending double play before Stanford was retired in order in the bottom half. He tossed another scoreless frame in the sixth, highlighted by Stowers' highlight-reel play at the wall to end it. With a runner on base, Keith Torres blasted a ball which would have cleared the fence had it not been for Stowers, who crashed into the wall as he made a leaping grab to end the inning and save a pair of runs.
Take a second to appreciate THAT catch by @KyleStowers to rob a 2-run home run... ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/kwrSCEJLPM
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) May 31, 2019
In the bottom of the sixth, Stowers big day continued with an RBI double to bring in Bellafronto and push the lead to six. Beck made it 7.0 shutout innings with another strong showing in the seventh, and Stanford piled on with a pair of solo homers in the home half. Matthiessen led off the inning with a solo home run and Daschbach's 17th of the season made it 8-0.
Cody Jensen entered to work a one-two-three eighth and Wulff's two-out, RBI single brought in Alec Wilson, who led off with a double, to push the lead to 9-0. Oar pinch hit for Matthiessen, blasting his first home run of the season, a two-out, two-run shot, beyond the left-field fence to make it 11-0. Jensen returned to work a scoreless frame and slam the door, putting Stanford in the winners' bracket for the third straight season.
The Cardinal continues postseason play on Saturday when it takes on the winner of Fresno State and UC Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN3 with live statistics available at GoStanford.com.
Cardinal Notes
- Stanford improves to 144-76, including 66-18, in 35 postseason appearances.
- Stanford has homered in 23-of-25 games with multiple home runs in 14 of those games. The Cardinal has homered 63 times in the last 29 games.
- Daschbach ties Brandon Wulff for the team lead with 17 home runs, ties Daschbach's 2018 total for the most in a season by a Stanford player since Sean Ratliff hit 22 in 2008.
- Tawa's error in the first inning was Stanford's first since May 14.
- Handley has thrown out 11-of-27 stolen base attempts against him this season.