STANFORD, Calif. – Making the final regular-season start of his career on Thursday night at Sunken Diamond, senior Brendan Beck twirled a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts to guide No. 9 Stanford (32-13, 16-9 Pac-12) to a 1-0 victory over Oregon State (33-21, 15-13 Pac-12).
The complete game was the second in as many weeks for the right-hander after tossing eight innings in a 2-1 setback at No. 13 Oregon last Friday. The nine innings pitched are new career high for Beck – besting his eight reached on six different occasions. With the victory, Beck improved to 7-1 on the season. Stanford is now 32-11 in his 43 career starts.
Beck, who went the distance by way of 107 pitches (75 strikes), allowed just the three hits and one walk. The native of Corona, Calif. retired the side in order in six of the nine frames, with only two runners reaching scoring position – stranding a runner at third in the third and another at second in the seventh.
Providing all the run support Beck would need in the 1-0 victory, sophomore Brock Jones connected for his 13th home run of the season in the sixth inning.
Seemingly making just the one mistake to Jones, right-hander Kevin Abel was saddled with the loss for Oregon State in the pitcher's duel. Abel also registered a complete game, tossing eight innings and allowing four hits and three walks while striking out seven. The loss dropped the Beaver starter to 3-4 on the season.
The 1-0 victory for Stanford is the first for the Cardinal since defeating Texas on the road by the same score on February 25, 2016. Beck's shutout is the first for a Cardinal pitcher since John Hochstatter blanked UCLA 5-0 on May 3, 2014.
Stanford will look to earn the series victory on Friday as the two teams meet for a 6:05 p.m. first pitch.