STANFORD, Calif. – Making his fourth career start on Tuesday night, freshman Joey Volchko struck out a career-best 11 batters while allowing just one hit and no walks over six innings to earn the victory and guide Stanford to a 7-6 win over Santa Clara.
The right-hander, who used 84 pitches to navigate the six frames, struck out eight of the first 11 batters he faced, including two in the first, two in the second and the side in order in the third.
No Santa Clara baserunner reached until an error to start the fourth inning. That runner would ultimately come around to score on a single, pinning an unearned run on Volchko's stellar line.
The Cardinal got on the board first in an unconventional way, scoring a pair of runs on a wild pitch. Owen Cobb scored from third and Ethan Hott scampered home from second as a pitch got away from the catcher and rolled into the generous foul territory of Sunken Diamond.
Jimmy Nati extended the Cardinal lead to 3-0 after three innings, shooting an RBI-single into right field to chase home Cort MacDonald.
After Santa Clara pushed the unearned run across in the fourth to cut the deficit to 3-1, Stanford immediately responded with two runs in the fourth on an RBI-double from Hott and a sac fly from MacDonald.
The lead ballooned to 7-1 in the sixth as Stanford loaded the bases with nobody out before settling for a pair of sac flies from Moore and Nati.
The Cardinal carried the six-run cushion into the eighth, but Santa Clara made things interesting down the stretch – plating two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate.
Sophomore Trevor Moore inherited runners at second and third with nobody out in the ninth of a 7-4 game, but induced a pair of run-scoring ground balls and a fly ball to right-center field to secure his first career save and seal the Cardinal victory.
Stanford will return to Pac-12 play this weekend, traveling to Arizona for three games beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
- Stanford concluded a stretch of games over which it played eight of nine contests at home (6-3 over the span).
- The Cardinal split a pair of games with Santa Clara in the regular season.
- The Cardinal has won seven of its last 10 games.
- Brett Blair (1-for-4, 2B) extended his hitting streak to five games … made his first career start, earning the nod at designated hitter.
- Owen Cobb (2-for-4, 3 R) has hit safely in nine straight and 16 of his last 20 games, managing multiple hits in 12 of those 20 contests.
- Trevor Haskins (1-for-3) has hit safely in 10 of his last 11, 19 of 21, and 23 of his last 28 games overall.
- Ethan Hott (1-for-4, R, 2B, RBI) has hit in four straight and nine of his last 10 overall.
- Cort MacDonald (2-for-4, R, RBI) has hit safely in nine of his last 10, 17 of his last 19, and 23 of his last 26, and has reached in all but four of his games played this year … has amassed a team-best 17 multi-hit games, including multiple hits in six of his last eight.
- Jimmy Nati (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBIs) has hit safely in all but 10 games this season, including six straight and 13 of his last 15 overall … has amassed a team-best 17 multi-hit games.
- Joey Volchko's 11 strikeouts surpassed his previous career best of seven vs. Creighton on March 25 … also managed a career-high in innings pitched, posting two more than his previous high of four.