STANFORD, Calif. – Trailing 4-3 with one aboard and two outs in the seventh inning, Stanford rallied for five runs on two big hits from sophomore JJ Moran and senior Jimmy Nati to eventually earn a 9-7 victory over Pitt to open a three-game ACC series on Friday from Sunken Diamond.
The victory moved Stanford to 7-10 on the year, including 1-3 in the ACC, while Pitt dropped to 12-4, including 0-1 in conference play.
Chasing a run with Luke Lavin aboard at first base and two outs following a leadoff single, Teddy Tokheim and Charlie Bates each finessed walks to load the bases for Moran. The native of San Diego, Calif. worked the count to 2-2 before lacing a single into left-center field to chase home Lavin and Tokheim and put the Cardinal ahead 5-4. Nati fell behind 0-2 in the next at bat, but didn’t miss a mistake on the ensuing offering, launching his fifth homer of the season out to left field to cap the five-run seventh.
For Nati, the homer was his third in the last two games after connecting for a pair vs. Nevada on Wednesday.
Pitt got on the board first on Friday, plating a two-out run in the first inning. That one-run cushion lasted into the bottom of the fourth when Bates and Nati singled in front of a three-run home run from Brady Reynolds that put the Cardinal on top 3-1 after four.
The round-tripper was Reynolds’ first of the season.
Finding itself in a see-saw battle, Pitt scored once in the fifth, and twice in the seventh, to reclaim the one-run lead at 4-3. Those three Pitt runs came via the home run as Lorenzo Carrier belted the first of two on the day in the fifth before Kai Wagner connected for a go-ahead two-run blast in the seventh.
After Stanford tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to run the tally to 9-4, Pitt managed to make things interesting in the top of the ninth. The first two Panther hitters reached before Carrier connected for a three-run shot - his second homer of the night and his 10th of the season.
Freshman Colt Peterson, who entered with two aboard to face Carrier, settled down nicely after giving up the long ball, retiring the next three hitters without incident to seal the victory.
Senior Nick Dugan grinded out five innings as the Stanford starter, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in a no-decision.
Despite allowing the go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh, senior Trevor Moore was credited with the victory after Stanford took the lead in the home-half of the frame. The right-hander moved to 3-1 on the season.
Panther reliever Daniel McAuliff, who handed the ball over to Mikey Gray with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, was eventually saddled with the loss and dropped to 2-1 on the year.
Stanford will look to clinch the series on Saturday when the Cardinal and Panthers meet for a 2:05 p.m. first pitch.
GAME NOTES:
- Stanford has connected for multiple home runs in each of the last nine games (24 homers over the span) … scored eight of its nine runs with two outs on Friday
- Friday’s game was the first between Stanford and Pitt in program history
- Charlie Bates (1-for-4, 2 R, BB) has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games
- Ethan Hott had an eight-game reached base streak dating back to the 2025 season snapped on Friday
- Eric Jeon (2-for-4, R) has hit safely in four of his last five games and has multiple hits in two of his last three
- Luke Lavin (1-for-3, R) has hit safely in eight of his last nine games
- Tatum Marsh had a seven-game reached base streak snapped on Friday
- JJ Moran (1-for-5, R, 2 RBIs) has a hit in 14 of the first 17 games this season
- Jimmy Nati (3-for-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBIs) has homered in back-to-back games and has three round-trippers in those two contests … has hit safely in five straight games, including posting multiple hits in each of the last three … has reached in nine straight games and has connected for a team-best five home runs on the year
- Brady Reynolds (1-for-2, R, HR, BB, 3 RBIs) connected for his first home run of the season ... matched a career high with three RBIs
- Rintaro Sasaki (1-for-4, BB) has hit safely in six straight games and eight of his last nine … has reached in nine straight
- Teddy Tokheim drew a walk to extend his reached base streak to 10 straight games