On Saturday, #2 Stanford baseball completed their weekend sweep of Rice by winning games two and three of their series. Due to weather that was scheduled for Sunday, the two teams opted to play a doubleheader on Saturday. Stanford won game two (first Saturday game) by a final score of 11-1 and game three (second Saturday game) by a final score of 7-4.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Joey Dixon (1-0) was the winning pitcher for Stanford in the 11-1 victory while freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Scott (2-0) was the winning pitcher for Stanford in the 7-4 victory. As for Rice, sophomore right-handed pitcher Mauricio Rodriguez (0-1) was the losing pitcher in the 11-1 game while senior right-handed pitcher Blake Brogdon (0-1) was the losing pitcher in the 7-4 game. Stanford improved to 5-2 on the season while Rice fell to 2-5.
BOX SCORE: Rice at Stanford-Saturday, February 25th Game 1
BOX SCORE: Rice at Stanford, Saturday February 25th Game 2
“Well, I thought great series,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the doubleheader. “And we to fight them off. They played tough in the last ball game and they weren’t gonna make it easy. Really proud of our guys just coming out and playing well and I thought our bullpen did a good job in spots to really kinda keep us right there and Brandt Pancer and obviously Matt Scott were just excellent and Joey Dixon was great out of the pen and Montgomery threw well as well. So, the bullpen was big this weekend.”
Starting with the first game on Saturday, neither team scored in the 1st inning. Ty Uber got the start for the Cardinal on the mound and made quick work of the first three batters for Rice by getting a strike out, fly out, and then ground out. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Stanford had a bit more success as Tommy Troy singled to right center, but aside from that, nobody was able to get on base.
In the top of the 2nd inning, Rice got a little more action as Manny Garza hit a single to right center to lead things off. Then, Nathan Becker was walked to advance Garza to second base. Pierce Gallo then struck out swinging after which Max Johnson flied out to short stop. Aaron Smigelski would then get walked before Colby Walsh grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Malcolm Moore got hit by a pitch for Stanford to lead things off after which Drew Bowser hit a triple to center field to bring home Moore. Alberto Rios would then get walked after which Charlie Saum struck out swinging. Owen Cobb then doubled down the left field line to advance Rios to third base and bring home Bowser. Eddie Park then grounded out to short stop to end the inning. 2-0 lead for Stanford.
Neither team would score in the 3rd or 4th inning. But, there were some pitching changes. In the top of the 4th inning with one out, Uber’s day was done for Stanford as Dixon came in to pitch in his place. Dixon would give up a single, but aside from that was able to keep the Owls scoreless. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Rodriguez’ day was done with two outs secured as J.D. McCracken came in to get the final out.
In the 5th inning, both teams would score one run. In the top of the inning, Jack Riedel was walked with one out after which Drew Holderbach singled to center field to advance Riedel to second base. Benjamin Rosengard then advanced to first base via fielder’s choice as Holderbach was out at second base while Riedel advanced to third base. Dixon then threw a wild pitch to bring home Riedel while Rosengard advanced to second base. Garza then grounded out to end the top of the inning. It was now a 2-1 lead for Stanford.
In the bottom of the 5th inning, Carter Graham got walked to lead things off for Stanford after which Braden Montgomery reached first base on a fielder’s choice as Graham was out at second base. Moore would then reach first base on fielder’s choice as Montgomery was out at second base. It was at this point that McCracken’s day was done as Krishna Raj came in to pitch for him. Bowser then singled through the left side to advance Moore to second base after which Rios singled through the right side to advance Bowser to second base and bring Moore home. After Saum got hit by a pitch, Cobb fouled out to left field to end the inning. Stanford once again had a two-run cushion, leading 3-1.
In the top of the 6th inning, Dixon made quick work of the Owls’ batters as he got three straight outs: foul out, strike out looking, and strike out looking. In the bottom of the 6th, Stanford went back to work. Park doubled to right center after which Troy hit a blast to right center that carried over the fence to bring home Park. Stanford would not score the rest of the inning as Bowser struck out looking to end the inning, but it was now a 5-1 lead for Stanford. Things were looking good for them.
The final three innings would be all Stanford as Rice did not score any more runs. In the bottom of the 7th and 8th innings, Stanford was able to add more runs for good measure. This made it an 11-1 final score.
“Yeah, we needed to, runs haven’t been coming easy for us,” Esquer admitted. “And a couple guys, a couple of our better players just haven’t hit the ground running and it’s a little tough sledding for them and while they’re finally getting themselves, I think some other guys have stepped up and done a nice job whether it’s Owen Cobb or we’ve had guys step up and that kinda what our motto is. We’re not gonna rely on one guy, we need other different guys to step up at different times.”
In the bottom of the 7th, Saum singled up the middle with one out after which Cobb singled through the left side to advance Saum. At this point, Raj was done as Tyler Hamilton came in to pitch for him. Park then reached on a fielder’s choice to load up the bases as Cobb advanced to second thanks to an error while Saum advanced to third base. Troy then reached on a fielder’s choice as Cobb was out at third base while Saum came home. Graham then struck out swinging to end the bottom of the inning. 6-1 lead for Stanford.
In the bottom of the 8th, things spiraled out of control for the Owls. Montgomery got walked after which Moore got hit by a pitch. Thanks to a wild pitch, Montgomery advanced to third base while Moore advanced to second. Bowser then got walked to load up the bases. The first out finally came as Rios fouled out to first base. Then, Saborn Campbell, who is still yet to get a hit this year, got walked, giving him an RBI as Montgomery came home.
With the bases still loaded, Cobb hit a single to center field to advance all runners and bring Moore home. Park would then hit a double to right center to bring home Campbell and Bowser while Cobb advanced to third base. Hamilton’s day was then done as Mark Perkins came in to pitch. Jimmy Nati, who was pinch hitting for Carter Graham then got walked after which Jake Sapien grounded out to second base to bring home Cobb. Montgomery then grounded out to second base to end the inning. It was now an 11-1 lead for Stanford.
“Just keeping the ball low and hard,” Cobb said of the key to his four-for-five hitting. “I think we’re trying to beat infielders and make it difficult for them to get you out and that was what I did.”
In the top of the 9th inning, Montgomery finished the job, getting three quick outs after also pitching the entire 8th inning. This made it an 11-1 victory for the Cardinal. With this being a doubleheader, things felt more like a halftime than the end of a game as the next pitch was scheduled for 40 minutes after the conclusion of the game (3:50 PM). Stanford had to feel good about how the game had gone, but they had one more game to go.
“For us, I just think it’s loosening up, finding our game,” Cobb said of scoring 11 runs. “We’ve got a lot of offensive firepower and it’s just a matter of getting to that and feeling comfortable. Paying attention to those details and sticking to our approach.”
After cooling off in the dugout and regrouping, Stanford came back onto the field for game three, this time in their black jerseys after donning their red jerseys in the first game. Junior left-handed pitcher Drew Dowd was on the mound to start for the Cardinal while the starting pitcher the Owls was junior right hander Garret Zaskoda.
The second game of the day started off with a bang as both teams scored in the 1st inning. In the top of the 1st, Gallo singled to left field with one out after which he advanced to second base on a passed ball. Riedel then struck out after which Holderbach singled to second base to bring home Gallo. Garza then grounded out to first base to end the top of the inning. 1-0 lead for the Owls.
In the bottom of the 1st, Troy was walked with one out after which he stole second base and advanced to third base on a throwing error from the catcher. Graham then grounded out to short stop to bring home Troy after which Montgomery hit a solo shot to right field. Moore then singled to right field before Bowser struck out swinging. 2-1 lead for the Cardinal.
In the 2nd inning, it was the same drill. Rice scored one run while Stanford scored two. In the top of the 2nd, Paul Smith doubled to left center after which Walsh singled down the right field line to bring home Smith. Walsh would then steal second base as Trey Duffield struck out looking. The next two Rice batters failed to get on base, making it a 2-2 game entering the bottom of the 2nd.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Rios got walked after which Campbell lined out to center field. Cobb then grounded out to short stop, advancing Rios to second base. Rios then advanced to third base on a passed ball. Up next to the plate would be Eddie Park, who hit a two-run home run to right field to bring home Rios. This was the first home run of Park’s career. This ended Zaskoda’s day on the mound as Cristian Cienfuegos came in to pitch.
“It was pretty exciting,” Esquer said of Park finally going yard. “And I think maybe our guys took for granted that that was gonna be the finishing blow early. And they end up coming back and tying it. But, it was good to see Eddie, he’s worked really hard and developed himself and that’s the part of his game, a new part of his game.”
Cienfuegos did not do a whole lot better as the first batter he faced (Troy) got hit by a pitch after which he stole second before then advancing to third base on a wild pitch. Graham and Montgomery then got walked to load up the bases. This ended Cienfuegos’ time on the mound as Justin Long came in to pitch. Long would get Moore out in the next at-bat as Moore grounded out to short stop. This ended the inning. 4-2 lead for Stanford.
Neither team would score in the 3rd inning and nor was there a pitching change. It was also three quick outs in both innings, so not a whole lot really happened.
In the top of the 4th inning, Rice would find a way to tie it up. Garza singled up the middle after which Smith doubled to left center to advance Garza to third base. Then, Walsh reached on an error to load up the bases. Duffield then got walked to bring home Garza. It was at this point that freshman righty Nick Dugan came in to pitch for Dowd. With the bases loaded and no outs, Dugan came into the game in a really difficult spot.
Dugan did as good of a job as Stanford could expect, forcing a strike out and fly out before giving up a single to Gallo, which resulted in Smith scoring and Walsh out at home. This ended the top of the inning and kept it at a tie game. 4-4.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, Stanford did not score, but they had their chance. With Park on second base and Cobb on third and only one out, Graham struck out looking before Montgomery flied out to left field to end the inning. Stanford blew an opportunity to retake the lead.
Neither team would score in the 5th, 6th, or 7th innings though there were some pitching changes. Brandt Pancer came in to pitch for Dugan in the top of the 6th inning while Tom Vincent came in to pitch for Long in the bottom of the 7th. At the end of the 7th inning, it was still a 4-4 game as neither team was yet able to take the lead.
“I think for us, I think it’s early in the year, and we’re still finding our A-game,” Cobb said of why the third game as so tight. “And it took a little while in that second game. We let them hang around for a bit before we got guys over and got the job done with guys in scoring position. I think it was just a matter of settling in and being confrontational and competitive, I think.”
In the top of the 8th inning, Ryan Bruno came in to pitch for Pancer and nearly booted the game. Holderbach got walked after which he advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Garza then struck out swinging. Smith then got walked. With only one out and two men on base, Bruno’s day was done as Matt Scott game in to pitch for Stanford. Scott was able to get the Cardinal out of the jam. Holderbach did advance to third on a wild pitch while Smith was able to steal second base, but Walsh striking out swinging and Duffield striking out looking prevented them from coming home. This kept it a 4-4 game entering the bottom of the 8th.
“He’s performed so well,” Esquer said of Scott. “And in January, he was right there among our best pitchers and we had to have one of our best pitchers in the back end of the games, someone we could rely on, and someone that could really go out and get some tough outs. It’s a lot for a young freshman, but he’s held up fine.”
“I think it’s a lot different in the sense that you have less time to warm up,” Scott said of being a reliever as opposed to a starter. “You’re not really as much of in a rhythm. But I just kinda take it one pitch at a time, one step at a time and I’m just grateful to have a role to be honest as a freshman.
“Just warming up and preparing for relief appearances, a lot different than a start. So, talking to Quinn, Brandt, a lot of the other guys, I think it’s extremely helpful for not just going out there and having those reliever mindset as one might say versus a starter mindset, but just how to prepare your body and how to get ready for that kind of high leverage situation. Occasionally, you get a little nervous, there are some butterflies. But I feel like if you can just channel that towards really focusing on each pitch and not letting the moment get too big, I think that’s really helpful.”
In the bottom of the 8th, Stanford finally took the lead. Rios doubled to right center with one out after which Nati singled to the catcher to advance Henry Gargus to third base. Gargus had come in to pinch run for Rios while Nati came in to pinch hit for Campbell. Cobb then tripled to left center to bring home Nati and Gargus. Park then flied out to center field to bring home Cobb. Troy grounded out to short stop to end the inning. This made it a 7-4 lead for Stanford.
“He’s worked really hard to give himself an opportunity,” Esquer said of Rios. “And to watch him take advantage of it. You know, he’s given us a shot in the arm and a boost. Him and Owen Cobb have kinda stepped up to be the Carter Graham/Brett Barrera help that we had last year this year.”
“We talk a lot about being competitive in the batter’s box,” Cobb said of his triple. “And I was just in there and believing that I was gonna get it done for the team and I got a pitch to hit and I did my job and scored a run and we closed it out on defense in the 9th.”
In the top of the 9th inning, Scott was able to finish off the Owls with little trouble as nobody scored and only Ben Royo was able to get on base by singling up the middle. 7-4 was the final score. Stanford not only won both games of the doubleheader, they also had swept the weekend series after winning 6-3 on Friday night.
“Definitely felt good,” Scott said of getting those three runs in the 8th inning. “But even if they didn’t score, I think just trying to get our team to the bottom of the 9th was the mindset there.”
For Rice, it’s never fun to get swept and they can’t feel good about how the weekend went. At the same time, they did play the Cardinal tough in two out of three games and also bounced back to defeat Sam Houston 11-4 on the road on Tuesday night. They defeated Sam Houston 3-1 at home earlier in the season, so they bounced back by completing a sweep of their own. Rice is now 3-5 on the season after Tuesday night’s win.
As for Stanford, they have to feel good getting this sweep. Especially after letting one slip away against Cal at home. As a result of getting the sweep, they remain #2 in the nation according to D1Baseball.com, so they didn’t lose any ground with their ranking.
“It’s hard, it’s hard,” Esquer said of getting a sweep. “And sometimes the key is when you get an opportunity to sweep somebody you need to do it and there’s times, unfortunately you’ve gotta save yourself from getting swept and you gotta find a way to scratch that one out, too.”
“I mean we always say on Sunday, we gotta sweep,” Cobb added. “We gotta get the job done. Going into next week, I mean it’s huge momentum. And momentum is always fragile. And we wanna keep that going heading into Monday or Tuesday and then next weekend as well. I think we’re in a good spot and you drop that second game of the doubleheader on I guess Saturday, you gotta recreate that momentum and we were committed to getting it done.
“We always say we’re too young to be tired. So I think that in terms of physical fatigue, I don’t think it’s a problem. I think that the hardest thing is locking in for all eighteen innings and I think there was some lulls in the second game, but when it counted, we buckled down and got the job done.”
Touching more on Cobb, he’s had to step up with Trevor Haskins out and he’s really filled in admirably. He had the game-winning hit in the second game and all season long and really has been off to a wonderful start.
“Yeah, absolutely, I think we’ve got a lot of talent on our team even behind those nine starters,” Cobb said. “And just trying to fill in and be part of that puzzle piece in that winning picture and whatever that looks on a given day I’m just looking to contribute.”
The same goes for Matt Scott. As a freshman, he’s had to have a big role on this team early and has really done an excellent job of dialing in and doing whatever is asked of him no matter how rough the spot is that he’s coming in to pitch on. He’s also starting to figure out which pitches work the best and how to get the most out of his arsenal.
“When coaches ask a lot of you as a freshman, I think a lot of times people can kinda let the nerves get the best of them,” Scott said. “But I just feel like I go out there and pitch just like I’m in an inter-squad. The guys are very supportive behind me and every time I’m out there, they’re like hey, just throwing an inter-squad at Sunken Diamond. So that’s kinda the mindset that I take out there…I think I’ve really started to find my slider a lot recently. And that’s been a huge piece of my success so far.”
One thing that has helped Scott a lot is the relationship he’s developed with freshman catcher Malcolm Moore. They’ve both been really supportive of each other and have pushed each other to be better in the fall as well as in the early part of the season. Having someone to work with him who is also has a freshman has really been a benefit to his growth this season.
“He’s caught me a lot throughout the entire fall, winter, so, he’s great behind the dish,” Scott said of Moore. “So, it’s awesome throwing to him, he’s very supportive, very motivational behind the plate, which I really like. So, we have a good connection.”
Up next for Stanford is a Wednesday game at Pacific at 2:05 PM PT. The game was originally scheduled for Monday, but it was rescheduled and moved to Pacific due to the rain that hit the Peninsula.
“Yeah, it was good to get both these games in,” Esquer said. “We didn’t want to lose any games and they’re a little restricted on time as far as how long they could wait tomorrow. So, it was best to play two today and get the games in for sure and we’ll rest tomorrow and back to work on Monday.”
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