STANFORD, Calif. – Trailing 3-1 headed to the bottom of the ninth inning, Stanford (12-15, 5-5 Pac-12) cut the deficit to 3-2 before receiving a walk-off three-run home run from freshman Brady Reynolds to earn a 5-3 victory over Washington State (16-12, 6-7 Pac-12) on Friday night to open a three-game Pac-12 series from Sunken Diamond.
Reynolds, who came to the plate with runners at the corners and one out, connected on a 2-1 offering from reliever Chase Grillo and sent it over the wall in right field for his second career home run.
The walk-off homer marks the first walk-off win for the Cardinal this season, and the first walk-off home run for Stanford since Tommy Troy connected for a two-run shot in the bottom of the 16th inning to beat Washington 3-1 on April 21, 2023.
While the heroics from Reynolds earned top billing from Friday night, sophomore Matt Scott was stellar in a start for the Cardinal. The right-hander did not allow a hit through the first 5 2/3 innings, ultimately tossing six frames and allowing one unearned run on one hit and two walks while striking out nine.
Stanford's pitching staff, consisting of Scott, Trevor Moore and Ben Reimers, combined to strike out 17 Washington State hitters – a season-best for the Cardinal and the most in a game since Stanford struck out 23 vs. Washington on April 21, 2023.
Reimers, who worked a scoreless ninth inning with three strikeouts, was credited with the victory and moved to 2-1 on the year following Reynolds' game-winning blast.
Stanford managed to get on the board first in the fourth inning as Charlie Saum lined a two-out single down the left field line to chase home Malcolm Moore. Moore had been hit by a pitch from Cougar starter Grant Taylor to open the frame.
Taylor worked the first six innings for Washington State, allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out four.
Still being no-hit through 5 2/3 innings by Scott, Washington State finally broke up the no-hit bid with an RBI-single from Casen Taggart. The single into center field brought home Crew Parke who had walked leading off the frame. The run proved unearned on Scott's line as the inning was extended due to the second of two Stanford errors in the game.
The Cougars still had just one hit headed to the eighth inning, but again made the most of singles in the frame to score a pair of runs and claim a 3-1 advantage. Taggart and Joey Kramer each contributed two-out RBI-singles in the inning – ensuring that all three of Washington State's hits on the night resulted in runs.
Despite the two-run deficit headed to the ninth, Stanford immediately got the momentum going as Ethan Hott and Saum singled to put the tying runs aboard. A sacrifice bunt from Temo Becerra followed before a wild pitch cut the deficit to one and put the tying run at third. Pinch hitter Brandon Larson was hit by a pitch on the ensuing play, extending the inning for Reynolds who won it with one swing of the bat.
Stanford will look to earn the Pac-12 series victory on Saturday when the two teams meet at 2:05 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
- The walk-off win was the first for Stanford since punching a ticket to the 2023 College World Series by way of a walk-off 7-6 victory over Texas on June 12, 2023.
- Stanford pitching struck out 17 while walking six and hitting two batters.
- Friday's victory was Stanford's third in opening games of a series this year (Rice and Washington).
- With the victory, Stanford improves to 15-1 against Washington State under David Esquer.
- In addition to being the first walk-off win of the year, Friday's victory was also Stanford's first come-from-behind win in the seventh inning or later this season.
- The victory in the last at bat was Stanford's third of the season (3/9 at Washington & 3/30 at Utah).
- Cort MacDonald (2-for-4) has now hit safely in five straight games and has reached in all but three contests this year – hitting safely in each of those games … has compiled a team-best 10 multi-hit games.
- Charlie Saum (2-for-3, RBI) has hit safely in each of the last three games, going 5-for-7 with two runs scored, two homers and six RBIs over the span.
- Trevor Haskins (1-for-3, 2B) extended his hitting streak to six games with a double in the fifth inning … he is batting 12-for-24 (.500) with eight runs scored, four doubles, a triple, two home runs and nine RBIs over the streak.
- The quality start from Matt Scott (6 IP, H, UER, 2 BB, 9 K) was his fifth in his last six turns.
- Luke Lavin (0-for-2, BB) had a five-game hitting streak snapped.
- After surrendering the walk-off home run and failing to record an out while facing two hitters, Chase Grillo was saddled with the loss and dropped to 0-2 on the season.