SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Sophomore left-hander Quinn Mathews dealt five hitless innings while striking out a career-best eight batters to set the tone for a combined two-hit shutout of Santa Clara on Friday night. The Cardinal (2-0), which utilized four pitchers in the game, blanked the Broncos (1-4) 8-0 from Santa Clara's Stephen Schott Stadium.
Mathews worked out of a few jams en route to picking up the victory and moving to 1-0 on the season, pitching around three walks and two hit batters. The eight strikeouts bested his previous career high of six over seven innings of work against Kansas State on March 7, 2020.
Freshmen Ryan Bruno and Brandt Pancer made their collegiate debuts in the victory, with Pancer tossing the final two scoreless innings while striking out one. Senior Austin Weiermiller logged two hitless frames and struck out four, including getting Ryan McCarthy to strand the bases loaded in the sixth inning.
Stanford did not allow a hit until two out in the eighth inning, as Jake MacNichols' single broke up the no-hit bid.
Offensively, Stanford received a career day from senior Nick Brueser. The native of Chandler, Ariz. went 3 for 4 with a run scored, a double, a home run and a career-best four RBIs. Brueser was responsible for the first three Cardinal runs of the game, as he connected for a two-run homer in the second before adding an RBI-double in the fourth to put Stanford on top 3-0.
The round-tripper was the third of Brueser's career, and the first since April 23, 2019 vs. San Jose State.
After a Santa Clara error and a two-RBI single from Christian Robinson extended the Cardinal lead to 6-0 in the sixth, Stanford added two more runs in the seventh – the final coming on a Brueser RBI-single to plate Kody Huff.
Huff and sophomore Brock Jones each scored three times, with Huff eventually finishing 2 for 3 with a double.
Stanford and Santa Clara will continue the four-game series on Saturday when the Cardinal and Broncos return to The Farm for a 2:05 p.m. first pitch.