SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Malcolm Moore homered twice in an eight-run fourth inning as Stanford (21-32) held on for an 8-7 victory over Arizona State (32-25) on Tuesday morning to open the 2024 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament.
With the win, Stanford snapped a 10-game losing streak.
Moore broke a scoreless game with a solo home run leading off the fourth before launching a two-run shot to cap the eight-run frame. Sophomore Jimmy Nati also delivered a big hit in the inning, clearing the bases with a three-RBI double into left-center field to stretch Stanford's lead to 6-0.
Despite trailing 8-0 in the fourth inning, No. 5 seed Arizona State never quit on Tuesday, scoring a run in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth on a two-run homer from Eamonn Lance to cut the lead to 8-4 after six innings.
Stanford worked itself into a handful of jams, issuing 13 walks and a hit-by-pitch, but continued to limit the damage and keep the lead intact.
With the Cardinal still holding a four-run cushion into the ninth, Matt Scott, who got four outs on the mound for Stanford, issued a pair of walks to the first two batters in the inning as Stanford elected to go back into the bullpen and summon Nick Dugan. The right-hander walked the first man he faced to load the bases before Cort MacDonald dove into foul territory to record the first out of the frame. The fourth walk of the inning forced in the first Arizona State run of the ninth, cutting the lead to 8-5, before Steven Ondina lofted a sacrifice fly to center field to make it a two-run game. Ryan Campos kept the Sun Devil ninth alive with an RBI-single, drawing ASU within a run at 8-7 and pushing runners to the corners with two outs. Kien Vu came to the plate with the tying run 90 feet away, but Dugan induced a fly ball to left field to seal the victory and convert his third save of the year.
Freshman starting pitcher Christian Lim struggled a bit with command, walking six batters, but he limited Arizona State's high-powered offense to just two runs on two hits while striking out six over 4 2/3 innings.
Sophomore Toran O'Harran was credited with the win and moved to 2-4 on the season after he recorded a pair of outs in relief of Dugan. Fellow sophomore Trevor Moore struck out three over 1 1/3 innings before passing the baton to Scott with two outs in the seventh.
The Cardinal will continue pool play from the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament on Wednesday when Stanford meets second-seeded No. 6 Oregon State at 10 a.m.
GAME NOTES:
- Stanford snapped a 10-game losing streak with the Tuesday win, but has dropped 10 of the last 11, 11 of its last 13, and 26 of the last 39 overall.
- Including 13 on Tuesday, the Cardinal has issued double-digit walks four times in a game this season (17 vs. Penn State, February 23; 11 at Washington, March 10; 12 at No. 5 Oregon State, April 13).
- Stanford is now 11-4 in games in which it manages an inning scoring four-plus runs.
- With two home runs on Tuesday, Malcolm Moore (2-for-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBIs) has now connected for 15 round-trippers this year … the multi-homer game was the fourth of his career and second this season after hitting three vs. Oregon on April 19.
- Moore's two-homer inning marks the second time a Cardinal player has posted two homers in an inning this year (Jimmy Nati, Bottom 5 vs. California on April 27)
- Temo Becerra (2-for-4, R) has hit safely in eight straight, 24 of his last 32 games and 30 of his last 38 overall ... has amassed 14 multi-hit games this season.
- Owen Cobb (1-for-5, R, 2B) has hit safely in four straight, 18 of his last 20 games and 25 of his last 31 overall.
- Trevor Haskins (2-for-4, R, 2B) has hit safely in 16 of his last 22, 25 of 32, and 29 of 39 overall … has posted 14 multi-hit games this season.
- Ethan Hott (2-for-5) has hit safely in 10 of his last 13 and 15 of his last 19 overall.
- Christian Lim (ND, 4.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 6 K) issued a career-high six walks while throwing 100 pitches.
- Jimmy Nati (1-for-4, R, 2B, 3 RBIs) has hit safely in all but 15 games this season, including 12 of his last 17, and 18 of his last 25 overall, and has reached in all but 13.