BERKELEY, Calif. - Trailing 3-2 and down to its final strike in the top of the ninth inning, No. 8 Stanford (21-7, 10-2 Pac-12) received a go-ahead three-run home run off the bat of senior Cole Hinkelman to earn a 5-3 victory and a series sweep over rival California (12-15, 3-12 Pac-12) on Saturday night.
The home run was the first of Hinkelman's career, as he finished the game 2-for-3 with four RBIs out of the eighth spot in the order. The blast came off of Cal's Matt Lozovoy, who was saddled with the loss and dropped to 0-1 on the season.
Junior Ryan Bruno earned the victory and moved to 1-0 on the season after throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Junior Brandt Pancer got the final two outs of the game, sealing the victory and collecting his third save of the year.
Making the start on Saturday, junior Joey Dixon pitched well, surrendering three runs on five hits with six strikeouts over six innings of work.
The Cardinal got on the board first with single runs in the first and second innings - the latter of which came home on Hinkelman's first hit of the day.
California managed to scratch one across in the bottom of the second, and took a 3-2 lead on a two-run homer from Kade Kretzschmar in the sixth, but the Cardinal rallied for the three runs in the ninth to earn the victory.
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— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 9, 2023
WHAT AN AT BAT FROM HINKELMAN??
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UP NEXT
Stanford will return to action on Monday when it opens a pair of games at home against Texas Tech. First pitch on Monday is set for 6:05 p.m., followed by Tuesday's finale at 2:05 p.m.
GAME NOTES
» The Cardinal out-hit the Golden Bears at a 7-5 clip.
» Stanford has now won four straight games and 11 of its last 13 overall.
» With the sweep of Cal, Stanford has now swept three consecutive Pac-12 series (also Oregon State and Utah) for the first time since sweeping Cal, Utah and USC to finish off the 2022 regular season.
» Carter Graham (0-for-4) had an eight-game hit streak snapped.
» Alberto Rios (1-for-3), Tommy Troy (1-for-3) and Drew Bowser (1-for-4) have all hit safely in five straight games, while Eddie Park (1-for-4) has hit in four straight.
» The victory was Stanford's third in its last at bat this year, while the comeback was the fourth in the seventh inning or later this season.
» Stanford went 2-for-6 (.333) with runners in scoring position.
» Stanford pitchers limited Cal to just 1-for-9 (.111) with runners in scoring position.
» Stanford pitchers faced 41 Cal hitters in the game, allowing three ground balls and 12 fly balls while striking out 11.