SEATTLE – Sophomore Drew Dowd contributed five-plus strong innings and sophomore Brandt Pancer tossed the final three shutout frames to secure a 6-2 victory for No. 6 Stanford (25-13, 12-8 Pac-12) over Washington (17-23, 7-16 Pac-12) on Saturday to even a three-game series from Husky Ballpark.
Dowd pitched into the sixth inning, allowing a leadoff home run to Cam Clayton in the frame. The round-tripper was the only blemish on Dowd's line as the lefty allowed just four hits and one walk with three strikeouts over five innings to move to 5-0 on the year.
Pancer entered in the seventh inning and faced one over the minimum over the final three innings, including striking out two, to collect his first career save.
Junior Brock Jones finished 2 for 3 with a triple, a run scored and two RBIs. The triple, his fourth of the season, leading off the game set the table for an RBI-ground ball from Carter Graham that put the Cardinal on the board first.
The Cardinal extended the lead to 3-0 by way of single runs in the third and fourth innings. Brett Barrera, who went 2 for 5, punched a clutch two-out RBI-single through the right side in the third before Jones drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth.
Stanford's advantage stretched to 5-0 in the sixth as Vincent Martinez drew a leadoff walk in front of a double from Drew Bowser. Eddie Park, who finished 3 for 3, plated the first run of the inning with a single before Jones lifted a deep fly ball into the right-center field gap for a sacrifice fly.
Clayton's homer got the Huskies on the board in the sixth, accounting for the first of two runs in the inning.
The Cardinal would add one insurance run in the top of the ninth as Kody Huff delivered a perfect safety squeeze bunt to bring home Joe Lomuscio who pinch ran for Barrera after Barrera got the rally going with a one-out single.
Husky starter Calvin Kirchoff was saddled with the loss after allowing three runs on six hits over 3 2/3 innings. The loss dropped the right-hander to 2-3 on the season.
Stanford will look to claim the series victory on Sunday when the two teams meet at 1:05 p.m.
