CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Meeting 2,700 miles from home, and for the fourth time in six days, Stanford defeated Bay Area rival California 11-4 in the first round of the 2026 ACC Baseball Championship from Truist Field on Tuesday afternoon.
With the victory, the Cardinal (28-25), which is the No. 12 seed in the tournament, advances to play fifth-seeded Miami on Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT. The loss drops California to 29-26 on the season.
Stanford’s bats came out hot on an 87-degree day in Charlotte, with the Cardinal managing the 11 runs on 11 hits – including five doubles and two homers. Stanford managed to score in five straight innings from the third to the seventh.
Senior Jimmy Nati led the way offensively, finishing 3-for-4 with three RBIs while falling a triple short of the cycle.
After Cal took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the third, Nati immediately responded with a solo homer leading off the bottom of the inning to draw the Cardinal even at 1-1.
Eric Jeon gave Stanford the lead with a sac fly in the bottom of the fourth before Nati laced a two-out single back up the middle to extend the lead to 3-1.
Sophomore Charlie Bates delivered a decisive blow in the bottom of the fifth, launching a three-run home run to right field with two outs to extend the Cardinal advantage to 6-1.
The Cardinal used four doubles in the sixth inning, including an RBI-double from Nati, to plate four more runs and push the tally to 10-1. Jeon led off the inning with a double before scoring on Nati’s two-bagger off the top of the wall in left-center field. Teddy Tokheim followed with a two-RBI double before Cort MacDonald brought him home one play later with a double of his own.
The two teams traded a run in the seventh, with Stanford taking advantage of an error in the home half of the frame following a home run from Cal’s Hideki Prather, and Cal managed to put two more runs on the board in the ninth on a two-run home run from Ethan Kodama.
Stanford’s pitching staff used six arms in the victory, with Toran O’Harran getting the start and working the first three innings while allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts.
Junior Aidan Keenan pitched the fourth and fifth innings, allowing just two hits while striking out five. The right-hander allowed a walk and a double starting the fifth inning, but escaped the jam by striking out the top three hitters in Cal’s lineup in order. For his efforts, Keenan was credited with the victory and moved to 1-3 on the year.
Freshman Mike Erspamer carried the torch through the seventh, allowing one run on three hits over two innings, before Ben Reimers retired the side in order in the eighth. After Kodama connected for the two-run home run in the ninth inning, Colt Peterson took over on the mound and recorded the final two outs for the Cardinal.
Stanford and Miami will meet for the fourth time this year on Wednesday after Miami took two-of-three from the Cardinal at Sunken Diamond from April 17-19.