STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford did not lead over the first nine innings, but a Christian Robinson single into right field chased home Kody Huff in the bottom of the 10th as Stanford (4-1) notched a 7-6 victory over San Francisco (4-5) to open a four-game series Thursday.
The victory was Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer's 100th while at the helm of the Cardinal program.
With the game knotted at 6-6, Huff led off the 10th with a single up the middle. After moving into scoring position on an error charged to third baseman Ryan Davis, Robinson delivered the base hit to send Stanford to victory.
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Robinson was one of four Cardinal hitters to finish with two hits, joined by Brock Jones, Huff and Brett Barrera. Jones finished 2 for 5 with a double, a triple and two RBIs, while Barrera connected for his second homer of the year to tie the game at five in the seventh.
The home run was Stanford's eighth of the season after hitting two in 16 games in 2020.
Stanford erased a 4-0 deficit with four runs in the fifth inning – all coming with two outs. A pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases for Jones, who promptly laced a two-RBI double into right field to run the tally to 4-2. Huff came up clutch one play later, sending a two-RBI single into right field to bring the Cardinal even.
Trailing 6-5 headed into the bottom of the ninth, Barrera reached with a one-out single before being replaced on the bases by Eddie Park. Park moved to second on a ground out, setting up Tim Tawa's game-tying, two-out RBI-single into centerfield to force extra innings.
Senior Zach Grech was credited with the win and moved to 2-0 after tossing the final three innings and allowing one run on four hits with four strikeouts. Alex Pham was charged with the loss and fell to 0-2 after allowing three runs on five hits with nine strikeouts over the final 4 1/3 innings for San Francisco.
Brendan Beck did not factor into the decision after logging five innings with five strikeouts as the Cardinal starter.
Stanford will host San Francisco in game two on Friday at 2:05 p.m.