On Tuesday, #2 Stanford baseball fell to Santa Clara at home by a final score of 10-5, snapping a seven game winning streak. Santa Clara senior right-handed pitcher Jared Feikes (1-0) was the winning pitcher for the Broncos while Stanford freshman right-handed pitcher Trevor Moore (0-1) was the losing pitcher for the Cardinal. Both pitchers got the start. Santa Clara improves to 6-4 on the season while Stanford falls to 9-3.
BOX SCORE: Santa Clara at Stanford
After both teams were held scoreless in the 1st inning, Santa Clara struck first in the top of the 2nd:
Johnny Tarantino got hit by a pitch in the first at-bat of the 2nd inning, ending Moore’s day on the mound for the Cardinal. Nicolas Lopez then came in to pitch for Moore. Dawson Brigman then hit a double to right field, advancing Tarantino to third base. Jack Harnisch then singled to left field and advanced to second base on the throw while Brigman advance to third base and Tarantino came home to score. Malcolm Williams then was walked after which Ben Steck was walked, bringing home Brigman. Michael O’Hara then grounded out to second base to advance Steck to second base and Williams to third while Harnisch scored. The next two Santa Clara batters struck out swinging, but they now had a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the 2nd, nobody for Stanford was able to get on base as Drew Bowser struck out swinging, Alberto Rios struck out swinging, and Jimmy Nati lined out to short stop.
In the 3rd inning, nobody would score, but in the top of the inning, Joey Dixon came in to pitch for Lopez to begin the inning and had to get replaced mid-inning by Max Meier as Dixon walked two batters with only one out. Meier was able to get the Cardinal out of the jam, but the pitching looked shaky to say the least. The bottom of the 3rd was smooth sailing for the Broncos as they got two quick ground outs and then a third ground out after Eddie Park reached first base on a throwing error.
In the top of the 4th, the Broncos added a run. With two outs, Brigman was walked after which Robert Hipwell reached on an error by left field, advancing to second base and bringing Brigman home. The next batter lined out to end the top of the inning. 4-0 lead for the Broncos.
In the bottom of the 4th, Braden Montgomery and Malcolm Moore both grounded out to second base while Bowser struck out swinging. The bats continued to be silent for the Cardinal.
In the top of the 5th, the Broncos exploded offensively as Williams doubled to right field with two outs to bring home Brigman who was walked. Then, Steck singled to the right side and advanced to second on the throw to bring home Williams. At this point, Meier was done on the mound as Ryan Bruno came in to pitch for him. With two outs, Brigman then hit a double down the left field line to bring home O’Hara and Steck. It was now an 8-0 lead for the Broncos.
In the bottom of the 5th, Rios struck out looking, Nati struck out swinging, and then Charlie Saum grounded out to third base. The Cardinal offense remained unable to get rolling.
In the top of the 6th, the Broncos added two more runs thanks to a walk and a wild pitch. Bruno did pitch the entire inning as those two runs came with two outs. This made it a 10-0 lead for the Broncos.
In the bottom of the 6th, it was more of the same from the Cardinal offense as they still couldn’t get going. Owen Cobb struck out swinging, Eddie Park flied out to left field, and Carter Graham grounded out to short stop.
Santa Clara did not score in the top of the 7th as Toran O’Harran came in to pitch for Bruno. As for the bottom of the 7th, Stanford finally got going, scoring five runs. Park, Graham, and Saum each had one RBI while two runners scored without the credit of an RBI thanks to a couple errors. This made it a 10-5 lead for Santa Clara.
From there, neither team would score in the 8th or 9th innings, making it a 10-5 final score. Santa Clara came out hot from the jump and took advantage of Stanford’s sketchy pitching. Stanford’s offense did finally wake up, but it was too little too late and was only really sustained for one inning.
For Santa Clara, this is obviously a big win. They beat the number two team in the nation on the road. The importance of that speaks for itself.
For Stanford, this loss just shows how vulnerable their pitching is especially in midweek games where they have to trot out mid-relievers to the mound. Bullpen depth is their biggest weakness and these midweek games expose that.
Up next for Stanford is their first series of Pac-12 play. They’ll open on the road at USC. The first game will be on Saturday at 2:00 PM PT, which will be part of a doubleheader. Game three will be on Sunday at 1:00 PM PT.
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
