Cardinal Drops FinaleCardinal Drops Finale
Baseball

Cardinal Drops Finale

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – No. 2 Stanford managed just four hits in a 4-2 loss at USC on Sunday at Dedeaux Field.

"It's just one of those games where things didn't go our way with the crazy play in the first and some bad luck throughout," said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "I thought Miller was great for us, he battled through some adversity and kept us in it, but sometimes baseball just catches up to you and it did to us today."

Starting pitcher Erik Miller tossed 6.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits with six strikeouts, and Will Matthiessen hit a two-run home run, but the Cardinal fell behind early and could not recover. Stanford did not put a base runner aboard until the sixth inning, also making two costly errors which aided USC in building a 4-0 lead.

The Trojans (20-24-1, 9-11-1 Pac-12) scored first for the second day in a row, scoring two in the bottom of the first. Miller struck out the side but Blake Sabol stole home and another run scored on the same play after a throwing error by Stanford. USC made it 3-0 in the third with C.J. Stubbs' RBI double but Miller limited the damage with another strikeout.

USC starter Kyle Hurt retired the first 15 Cardinal in order before Christian Robinson's lead-off single in the sixth broke up the no-hit bid. Robinson was stranded at first and the Trojans tacked on another unearned run in the home half.

Stanford got on the board in the seventh with Matthiessen's two-run blast to right center, a towering shot that easily cleared the fence and left the yard in a hurry to make it 4-2. The Cardinal had another opportunity to score in the inning but stranded two runners before Zach Grech took over for Miller, working a scoreless seventh.

Kyle Stowers hit a double in the eighth but was stranded at second. Jacob Palisch worked a quick eighth inning before Stanford went away in order in the top of the ninth.

No. 2 Stanford returns to action when it plays host to Santa Clara on Tuesday at Sunken Diamond with first pitch set for 6 p.m. Pac-12 play continues next weekend when the Cardinal visits California in Berkeley, California.

Cardinal Notes

  • The loss was Stanford's first road loss in Pac-12 play.
  • Stanford has hit at least one home run in 14 straight games and in 19 of 20.
  • Esquer was ejected in the top of the seventh inning.