SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Stanford and Notre Dame combined for 31 runs on 37 hits on Sunday, but it was an eight-run sixth inning for Notre Dame that proved to be the difference as the Fighting Irish (24-20, 11-16 ACC) completed a series sweep of the Cardinal (22-22, 10-14 ACC) by way of an 18-13 victory from Frank Eck Stadium.
Teddy Tokheim was a bright spot offensively for Stanford, finishing 3-for-6 with two home runs, a double, two runs scored and three RBIs. The multi-homer game was the second of Tokheim’s career after connecting for a pair at Virginia Tech on March 27 of this season.
Heavy winds wreaked havoc on Cort MacDonald in center field as the senior got a bit turned around on a fly ball off the bat of Jayce Lee in the bottom of the second inning, resulting in a double and the game’s first run.
Notre Dame extended its lead to 3-0 in the third as Drew Berkland led off with a single and came in to score on a two-run home run to straight-away center field off the bat of Mark Quatrani – his 12th home run of the season.
After posting zeros in the first three innings, Stanford managed to get on the board and cut the lead to 3-1 in the fourth as Eric Jeon led off with an automatic double to left-center field, moved to third on a ground ball from Jimmy Nati, and scored on an RBI-groundout from Charlie Bates.
Stanford officially erased the early deficit in the fifth inning, plating four runs on four hits to take a 5-3 lead. Luke Lavin got the inning going with a single before Brock Sell followed suit to put two aboard. After working the count to 2-2, Rintaro Sasaki lined a game-tying double inside the bag at third base to chase home Lavin and Sell. Tokheim followed with a 418-foot two-run home run to dead center field two plays later to hand Stanford the 5-3 lead and cap a four-run fifth.
Notre Dame got a run back in the bottom of the fifth as Bino Watters lifted a fly ball that just got over the glove of Jimmy Nati in left field and bounced off the top of the wall for an RBI-triple. The Cardinal managed to escape the inning with a 5-4 lead intact when Sasaki fielded his position on a ground ball, touched first and fired home to cut down Watters for the inning-ending double play.
After Sell squibbed an RBI-single toward shortstop to make it 6-4 Stanford in the sixth, the Fighting Irish responded with back-to-back homers from Jayce Lee and Andrew Graham in the bottom of the inning to level the game at six runs apiece. The home team would tack on six more in the inning, including a three-run homer from Lee for his second round-tripper in the frame, to take a 12-6 lead after six.
Stanford managed back-to-back home runs of its own from MacDonald and Tokheim to start the seventh, but Notre Dame immediately responded with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to push the tally to 15-8.
Continuing to trade blows, Stanford fired back with a run in the top of the eighth as Brock sell tripled and came in to score on an RBI-groundout from MacDonald to make it 15-9. The three-bagger was the seventh of the year for Stanford, including its first since March 1 vs. Fresno State.
A three-run home run from Berkland in the bottom of the eighth extended the Irish lead to 18-9 before Stanford scored for the sixth consecutive inning – plating four runs in the ninth – to push the tally to its final of 18-13. Sasaki highlighted the four-run ninth, lining a three-run home run to right field for his 15th home run of the year. The Cardinal first baseman would finish the game 2-for-6 with five RBIs while hitting out of the leadoff spot in the order.
Freshman Brock Ketelsen, the first of six relievers used after starter Nick Dugan went four innings, was saddled with the loss and dropped to 3-2 on the year after allowing four runs on four hits and two walks over one inning of work.
Stanford will return to action on Wednesday when it hosts San Francisco at 6:05 p.m.