STANFORD, Calif. – After winning two of the first three games in the series, Stanford (10-2) had to settle for a four-game split on Sunday after dropping the finale of the set with Xavier (7-5) 11-3 from Sunken Diamond.
The Musketeers scored in bunches on Sunday, plating three in the second, three in the fifth, two in the sixth and three in the seventh to earn the victory.
Trailing 3-0 after two innings, Stanford cut the deficit to 3-2 on solo homers from Brandon Larson and Brady Reynolds in the third and fourth innings, respectively. The home run was Reynolds’ fifth of the season, while Larson’s blast was his first.
Larson proved to be a bright spot offensively for Stanford, finishing 3-for-4 with the homer, two runs scored and one RBI. Rintaro Sasaki and Temo Becerra also managed multi-hit games, finishing with two apiece.
After surrendering three runs in the fifth, Stanford got its final run on an RBI-ground ball from Jimmy Nati in the bottom of the fifth.
Freshman Parker Warner was charged with the loss and fell to 0-1 after allowing three runs on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts over two innings. The Cardinal used seven pitchers in total, with junior Sam Garewal and freshman Cohen Gomez each contributing two innings. For Gomez, who recorded the final six outs while striking out two without allowing a run, the outing was the first of his career. Garewal struck out four over his two innings of work, but was charged with a pair of runs after hitting two batters to start the fifth that later came around to score on a two-RBI triple from Connor Misch.
Misch finished the game 3-for-5 with a run scored and four RBIs.
The Cardinal issued 10 free passes in the loss, walking six batters and hitting four more.
Right-hander Ben Weber was credited with the victory out of the bullpen for Xavier, allowing just one run on three hits with four strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings. Weber improved to 1-2 on the season.
Stanford will begin ACC play next week, traveling to No. 5 North Carolina for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 1 p.m. PT.