STANFORD, Calif. – Trailing 3-2 headed to the bottom of the eighth, Stanford scored four runs in the inning and held on for a 6-5 victory over NC State in the opener of a three-game ACC series on Friday from Sunken Diamond.
With the win, Stanford improved to 24-22 on the season, including 11-14 in the ACC. The loss dropped NC State to 30-18 overall, including 12-13 in the conference.
The eighth-inning rally all came just prior to a large-spread power outage that wiped out the scoreboard, pitch clocks and press box, but left the stadium lights aglow.
Pitching in what amounted to a well-attended fall scrimmage with no scoreboard or music and the Cardinal leading 6-3, senior right-hander Trevor Moore retired the side in the ninth to record his fourth save of the year, but not without drama, as NC State plated a pair before eventually succumbing to defeat.
Facing NC State reliever Ryder Garino in the eighth, Cort MacDonald got the inning going with a single into center field. A walk to Rintaro Sasaki put two men aboard before the Cardinal replaced Sasaki on the bases with freshman Rashad Hayes. A failed bunt attempt resulted in a strikeout on the ensuing play, but sophomore Charlie Bates delivered the game-tying single into right field to chase home MacDonald and knot the tally at 3-3. As he’s done all season, JJ Moran came up with the clutch hit, lacing a go-ahead two-RBI double down the line in right field to hand the Cardinal a 5-3 lead. After a strikeout resulted in the second out of the inning, NC State called to the bullpen and summoned Tristan Potts. Freshman Brock Sell welcomed the new arm with an RBI-double to right field that proved to deliver the game-winning run.
Stanford held the lead through much of the game after plating a pair of runs on two of the three wild pitches delivered by Wolfpack starter Cooper Consiglio in the first inning. The left-hander found himself in the early hole, but settled in to work 6 1/3 innings while allowing just the two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out eight.
NC State got a run back in the second off Stanford starter Andrew Shaw, and eventually drew even with a run in the sixth, but the Cardinal pitching staff did well to limit the damage – stranding the bases loaded in the fourth and fifth innings. NC State would ultimately leave 11 runners aboard in the loss.
Freshman Mike Erspamer, who improved to 1-2 on the year, allowed the go-ahead run in the seventh on a Sherman Johnson double, but rebounded to toss a 1-2-3 eighth inning to finish his night with five strikeouts over two innings of one-run ball.
Parker Warner logged 2 2/3 scoreless innings as the first reliever out of the Cardinal bullpen, while Kassius Thomas and Cohen Gomez each contributed an inning to bridge the gap to Erspamer in the seventh.
Having secured the opener, Stanford will look to clinch the series on Saturday when the two teams meet for a 2:05 p.m. first pitch.