BERKELEY, Calif. – Five Stanford pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts, but rival California rallied late to defeat the Cardinal, 2-1, at Stu Gordon Stadium. Stanford closes the regular season with a 27-25 overall record and 13-17 mark in the ACC.
The Stanford pitchers combined for a strong outing with 12 strikeouts while scattering just nine hits. Nick Dugan pitched three scoreless innings in his 12th start of the season, striking out four, while Cohen Gomez and Mike Erspamer each struck out three batters in relief. The scoreless outing was the first of the season for Dugan, while Erspamer, Ben Reimers and Trevor Moore each threw scoreless frames.
Teddy Tokheim and Cort McDonald posted two hits apiece, with Tokheim posting a pair of doubles with an RBI for his third multi-double game of the season, while McDonald added a double of his own in the opening inning. Tokheim leads the Cardinal with 18 doubles and 34 extra-base hits this season, while the RBI was his 44th of the campaign.
Four of Stanford’s six hits went for extra bases, as Brock Sell added a triple in the third inning, his team-leading third of the season. Eric Jeon added a single to give him a hit in each of the three games in the weekend series.
Stanford left eight runners on base over the afternoon, including a pair in the first inning after McDonald and Charlie Bates, who reached base for the 18th consecutive game, were left onboard. The Cardinal took the lead in the third inning after Sell’s triple led to a sacrifice fly from Tokheim two batters later.
The defensive duel continued throughout the middle innings, including an inning-ending double play in the fifth. Cal scored its only runs of the night with a two-out, two-RBI single in the seventh inning off the bat of Cade Campbel to take a 2-1 lead.
The Cardinal was unable to rally over the final two innings, and Cal survived to claim the victory and the series.
Stanford returns to action on Tuesday, May 19 in Charlotte, North Carolina at the ACC Championship. The Cardinal earned the No. 12 seed and will face No. 13 California at 10 a.m. PT in the round of 16.