STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford and Pitt combined for eight home runs, with both teams launching four, and Pitt escaped with an 11-10 victory on Saturday afternoon to even a three-game series from Sunken Diamond.
The Cardinal (7-11, 1-4 ACC) carried a 9-8 lead into the ninth inning after scoring four runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Pitt (13-4, 1-1 ACC) responded for three in the ninth to secure the victory.
Trailing 8-5 in the bottom of the eighth, Ethan Hott made it a one-run game with a two-RBI single down the right field line that chased home Jimmy Nati and Eric Jeon. Pinch hitter Sebastian David was hit by a pitch to push runners to first and second before Rintaro Sasaki drew a walk one out later. Hitting with two outs and the bases loaded, freshman Teddy Tokheim laced a double to left-center field that brought home Ethan Hott and pinch-runner Philip Cheong to give the Cardinal the lead.
The double was Tokheim’s third of the day as he finished 4-for-5 with two runs scored, three doubles, a home run and four RBIs while hitting second in the Cardinal order.
Tokheim’s home run, a two-run shot, came in the three-run bottom of the fifth, and was part of back-to-back homers with Charlie Bates that gave Stanford a 5-4 lead to that point in the game.
With one on Saturday, Tokheim has connected for four home runs in his freshman campaign.
In addition to Tokheim and Bates, Sasaki and Jeon homered for Stanford. Sasaki’s fifth homer of the season got Stanford on the board in the third, while Jeon’s solo blast in the ninth, his fourth of the year, made it a one-run game and provided life for the Cardinal.
In what proved to be a see-saw battle on Saturday, Stanford had the tying run at third base with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but a 6-4-3 game-ending double play sealed the Cardinal’s fate. Following Jeon’s one-out homer to left field, Hott punched a single into center field and took third on a broken-bat blooper from Cheong. Nolan Stoll, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth, peppered the first offering he saw on the ground to short to start the game-ending double play.
Freshman Colt Peterson, who entered to pitch the ninth in a save situation, was saddled with the loss and dropped to 1-1 after allowing three runs on three hits while recording two outs. Carter Dierdorf delivered the big blow – sending a go-ahead two-run homer over the wall in center field for his fourth round-tripper of the season.
Stanford and Pitt will decide the three-game ACC series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
- Stanford has connected for multiple home runs in each of the last 10 games (28 homers over the span) … has scored nine-or-more runs in five straight contests … has managed a home run in 10 consecutive games for the first time since a string of 16 straight from February 16 – March 16 last season … connected for back-to-back home runs for the second time this year after Henry McDonald and Eric Jeon went back-to-back at No. 15 Wake Forest in the top of the ninth on March 6 ... despite suffering 11 losses this season, the Cardinal has had at the least the tying run at the plate in the eighth or ninth inning of nine of the 11 setbacks
- Charlie Bates (2-for-4, R, HR, 2 RBIs) has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games … has a team-best nine multi-hit games in his first 17 games played this year … has homered in three of his last five contests
- Eric Jeon (2-for-4, 2 R, HR, RBI) has hit safely in five of his last six games and has multiple hits in three of his last four … has connected for three home runs in his last four games
- JJ Moran (1-for-5) has a hit in 15 of the first 18 games this season
- Jimmy Nati (2-for-5, R) has hit safely in six straight games, including posting multiple hits in each of the last four … has reached in 10 straight games
- Rintaro Sasaki (1-for-3, R, HR, RBI, 2 BB) has hit safely in seven straight games and nine of his last 10 … has reached in 10 straight and is tied for the team lead with five home runs
- Teddy Tokheim (4-for-5, 2 R, 3 2B, HR, 4 RBIs) set new career highs in hits, doubles and RBIs, and matched his career high in runs scored … has reached in 11 straight games … is the first Cardinal to collect four hits in a game since JJ Moran had four vs. Fresno State on March 1 of this season … is the first Stanford player to have three doubles in a game since Malcolm Moore had three at Pacific on March 1, 2023 … 10 total bases are the most for a Cardinal player since Eric Jeon had 10 at No. 15 Wake Forest on March 7 of this season