On Friday, Stanford baseball defeated Rice 6-3 to win their opening game of a three-game series against the Owls at Sunken Diamond. Stanford senior left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews (1-1) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal while freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Scott picked up his first career save. Rice sophomore right-handed pitcher Parker Smith (0-1) was awarded the loss for the Owls.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Rice-Friday, February 24th
“Yeah, good Friday night performance by Quinn Mathews, right?” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “You gotta have Friday night pitching that can face a good lineup and hold them down and give yourself a chance. Quinn did that. One pitch base hit with two runners on, but we responded, got the lead back for him, he was excellent.”
“Yeah, this was a really big win for us,” Stanford junior outfielder Eddie Park said after the game. “Especially just how the weekend unfolded. Last week, we won the series, but we played a little sloppy and then playing Cal on Tuesday, we didn’t play that great. So just in terms of getting that momentum back and getting in that win column was a big win for us today.”
In the top of the 1st inning, Jack Riedel hit a double for Rice to center field with two outs. After Manny Garza got walked, Drew Holderbach flied out to right field to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 1st, Tommy Troy singled up the middle for Stanford with one out and was advanced to second base thanks to Carter Graham grounding out. However, the inning then ended as Braden Montgomery grounded out to the pitcher. 0-0 game at the end of the 1st.
In the top of the 2nd inning, Paul Smith was walked for Rice with one out. He would be the only Rice batter to get on base as Pierce Gallo and Christian Salazar both struck out swinging. In the bottom of the 2nd, Malcolm Moore doubled down the right field line for Stanford after which Drew Bowser was hit by a pitch and was able to stay in the game after appearing to be pretty shaken up. Alberto Rios then grounded out to first base, advancing Bowser and Moore. But then,Charlie Saum and Owen Cobb both struck out swinging to end the bottom of the inning. 0-0 game at the end of the 2nd.
In the top of the 3rd inning, Max Johnson got walked to lead things off for Rice after which Connor Walsh struck out swinging for the first out. Then, Riedel singled to first base, advancing Johnson to second base. Garza would ground out, advancing both runners to second and third. Holderbach then singled through the left side to bring home Riedel and Johnson before getting out at second base as he went for the double. 2-0 lead for Rice.
“Again, starting is a different beast,” Mathews said. “I mean, I’ve struggled early now in both outings where, just getting comfortable settling down, getting the feel for the changeup that day is probably the biggest point that I need to sit back and look at and trying to get that sixth and seventh inning change that I have, hoping then in the first, second, and third. But I mean, I walked a guy to start an inning, I mean that’s on me a hundred percent, defense can’t defend a walk. So, I’ll take those two runs on me every day of the week. I was fortunate to get out of there with only two. Kid made a good swing on an 0-0 fastball and jumped me on a fastball in, so it happens unfortunately.”
In the bottom of the 3rd, Troy would double down the left field line with one out, but both Graham and Montgomery flied out to end the inning. Stanford was still unable to generate much offense as Smith was doing a nice job on the mound.
In the top of the 4th inning, Mathews made quick work of the Rice lineup as nobody got on base: A ground out, strike out, and fly out. Stanford entered the bottom of the 4th hoping to finally get on the board.
In the bottom of the 4th, Moore would get hit by a pitch and then advance to second base during Bowser’s at-bat thanks to a wild pitch. Bowser then flied out to right center to advance Moore to third base. With only one out, Rios was able to bring home Moore by grounding out to second base. With two outs and nobody on, Saum singled down the left field line after which Cobb singled to third base, advancing Saum to second base. Park then grounded out to second base to end the inning. 2-1 lead for Rice at the end of the 4th.
The 5th inning was pretty uneventful as neither team got on base. Mathews secured two strike outs while forcing a ground out in the top of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Smith would do the same. It was still a 2-1 game at the end of the 5th.
In the top of the 6th, Mathews continued to dominate the Rice lineup as he got two more strike outs plus a line out without allowing anyone to get on base. The bottom of the 6th inning wouldn’t go the same for Rice as Stanford found a way to take the lead.
“Yeah, I mean I threw a ton of change ups, a ton of sliders,” Mathews said of what pitches were working for him. “I mean fortunately, the fastball was there when I needed it, but I didn’t need to rely on it. My changeup was really good. It was swing and a miss for the most part and then the slider was there when I needed it, too. So, those two were definitely the big two. Not as many curve balls today, but that’s alright.”
Bowser would reach first base with one out thanks to an error and advance to second base as a result. Then, Rios singled to second base and advanced to second base thanks to an error while Bowser came home as a result. It was now a 2-2 game. Saum then got walked after which Cobb grounded out to second base, advancing Saum to second base and Rios to third base. At this point, Smith was done on the mound as Matthew Linskey came in to pitch for him.
The first batter Linskey faced was Park, who singled to left field, bringing home Saum and Rios. The inning would end as Park was out at second base as he was caught stealing. Sometimes you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar and that’s what happened to Park. 4-2 lead for Stanford at the end of the 6th inning.
“Well, he’s just a steady player and even I think he had a rough game the last game where we were at Fullerton, just on numbers, but I think his at-bats have been good and he’s just such a tough out,” Esquer said of Park. “And he does so much for us. You know, defensively, he can run the bases and he can make contact and get a big hit when we need it.”
“Well, they brought in a new pitcher when I came in,” Park recalled. “And from my scouting report, he was a guy that threw a lot of fastballs, so from the get-go, I was seeing fastballs and just doing whatever I can just to get a hit right there. It was a two out situation so a hit would have scored two and that was all I was thinking…It felt great. Especially, I didn’t really hit well before that at bat, so going in that at bat you know, just trying to do it for the guys. Just find a way to get a hit and I was really happy with the result.”
“The cold definitely affects some of the long balls that we hit that maybe in two months go out. They won’t go out, so we’re really trying to focus hitting the ball low and hard.”
After getting one out in the top of the 7th, Mathews’ day was done on the mound as Brandt Pancer came into pitch. Pancer would get Paul Smith out for the second out, but then gave up a solo homer to Gallo. Aaron Smigelski then came in to pinch hit for Salazar and ended up striking out to end the top of the inning. 4-3 lead for Stanford.
“It’s definitely different,” Mathews said of being a starter this year. “Friday nights are a different ball game in their own, we’ve seen, I mean today, great arm, we saw one last week. So, we’ve seen the top guys on the other squad, so it’s just kinda like hey, I’m trying to get my team a chance to win every time I take the mound, but today I was able to do that, which is awesome, first win of the season for me, kinda get out of the rut that was the Cal game of Tuesday, so it was a good bounce back for the squad.”
In the bottom of the 7th, Troy got walked to lead things off and then stole second base with Linskey still on the mound. Graham and Montgomery then both got walked to load up the bases with no outs. This ended Linskey’s day on the mound as JD McCracken came in for relief, hoping to get the Owls out of a jam.
With the crack of a bat, Moore grounded out to second base off McCracken, bringing home Troy and advancing both Montgomery and Graham to second and third. After Bowser struck out swinging, Rios singled to short stop, advancing Montgomery to third base and bringing home Graham. Rios then stole second base before Saum struck out swinging. 6-3 lead for Stanford at the end of the 7th inning.
In the top of the 8th inning, Scott came in to pitch for Pancer and he was lights out, getting two strikeouts and a fly out without allowing anyone to get on base. Stanford would not score at all in the bottom of the 8th inning, setting up a save opportunity for Scott in the top of the 9th inning. Just like the 8th inning, Scott made quick work of the Owls batters, though he did so with more variety: ground out, strike out, and then fly out. Stanford walked out with a solid 6-3 win after being down a pair of runs earlier in the day.
“Yeah, that game could have been tough,” Esquer admitted. “I’ve seen often where your team will start to press a little bit. You know, the offense isn’t coming as easy to some of our middle of the order guys as they would like and so, sometimes when that’s not happening, the top and the bottom start to press in order to perform. And so, I think we can do a better job of just making a little more team baseball, whether a guy doesn’t get a job done the next guy kinda picks him up. We haven’t done that really. So we kinda, it’s kinda putting the pressure on one guy, when those spots come up, for him to get it done. So that makes it harder.”
“Yeah, I mean, I would say we’re not clicking as a unit yet, as a whole,” Mathews said. “I mean, the offense is, the timely hitting that we were used to and we’re used to and are gonna get the rest of the year, just isn’t quite there yet. And that’s alright, it’s early.
“I mean, like I said, their Friday guy was a stud. Good for him, freshman, got a big future ahead of him. So, I mean, we’re able to get some runs, which was nice and then I mean the bullpen arms came in and shut the doors, which is awesome.”
For Rice, this is a disappointing loss in that they had Stanford on the ropes a bit and were not able to finish the job. Stanford’s offense also wasn’t super explosive and they weren’t able to take advantage by generating more runs. All they can do is shake this off and come back ready to work on Saturday.
As for Stanford, this win felt really good for them. Quinn Mathews was fantastic in his starter role while Matt Scott was excellent as a closer. Really a nice pitching duo in this one and that is what made the difference. Plus, while the bats weren’t as explosive as they could have been, they were good enough.
“Well, he was a Swiss army knife, he did everything for us,” Esquer said of Mathews’ adjustment to starter. “He closed, he pitched on Sunday, length of innings, he was the reason we made the turn that we made and hey, he’s earned the Friday night start. He’s earned that ability to be our Friday night starter and so, I think one, as he gets to be a little more economical with his pitching, he can go a little bit deeper in the games, but you know, sometimes when you’re a strikeout pitcher you burn a lot pitches. I think as he finds out, he’ll get further and deeper into games as his pitch count goes up and just kinda learns how to get them out.”
“Yeah, he’s done a great job,” Esquer said of Scott. “To be honest, in January, he was a dominant pitcher in our workouts and so it was a little bit of a decision on do we use him as a part of our bullpen or do we actually start him. And he profiles to be a starter in his career, but I think right now as things are set for us, he helps us as being a stabilizing force in the back end.”
“Matt Scott’s beyond his years,” Mathews added. “The kid’s calm, cool, collected. I mean, got electric stuff. So, as long as he’s able to pound the zone, he’s as good as he is at six foot seven. Weird angle. I mean, like I said, the kid’s mature beyond his years so it’s awesome to have him back there.”
Up next for Stanford and Rice is Saturday’s doubleheader at Sunken Diamond. That will begin at 12:05 PM PT with the second game happening 40 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Both games will air on Stanford Live Stream and KZSU radio.
“Well the good thing is I love being at the park,” Esquer said with a smile when asked about the doubleheader. “I don’t mind being at the park for six or seven hours. So that’s a good thing and you know it just, hey, you’re managing young kids and just kinda how you manage the pitching staff over two games and you gotta come out ready to play and you know, sometimes momentum swings back and forth and I think most doubleheaders are split overall because sometimes it’s hard to kinda maintain that high level of performance.”
“I mean, obviously coming off a loss, you don’t like losing streaks, so you try to cut those off as soon as possible,” Mathews said. “I mean, whether it’s one game, two games, you just don’t like to let that snowball effect. And then today, was like, knowing we play two tomorrow, I wanted to pitch it deep in that game as possible. Save as many of the bullpen arms as I could, knowing we didn’t have the luxury of having a Saturday and a Sunday game. So, I think just trying to pitch deep into today was the key point for me.
“I actually prefer pitching in colder weather. I have no issues pitching in it. I mean, for me the ball doesn’t go as far. So, I think I can be a little more aggressive just because it takes a little bit more just to hit the ball out of the ballpark. When it’s hot, the balls fly, I mean here in the day, it’s not the most fun place to pitch because it is such a launching pad in the day, so I don’t mind pitching in the cold at all.”
“Yeah, obviously, just playing a doubleheader, you’re gonna have to play eighteen innings. We’ll feel a lot of fatigue, but we’ll just take it inning by inning. Pitch by pitch,” Park said. “Not worry about the second game, just focus on getting one pitch at a time.”
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