On Sunday, #3 Stanford baseball defeated Cal State Fullerton 21-13. Stanford sophomore right-handed pitcher/outfielder Braden Montgomery picked up the win for the Cardinal while Fullerton right-handed pitcher Ryan Faulks was awarded the loss. Stanford improves to 2-1 on the season while Fullerton falls to 1-2.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Cal State Fullerton-Sunday, February 19th
This game started off with a bang as both teams scored multiple runs in the opening inning. In the top of the 1st inning, Eddie Park got walked in the opening at-bat. Tommy Troy then hit a triple to bring home Park. In the next at-bat, Carter Graham went yard to make it a 3-0 lead for the Cardinal.
Braden Montgomery then got walked after which Malcolm Moore flied out to left field. Drew Bowser then got walked, advancing Montgomery to 2nd base. Thanks to a wild pitch, both Bowser and Montgomery advanced one base. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, they were not able to add any more runs as Saborn Campbell and Charlie Saum both struck out swinging to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 1st inning, Caden Connor flied out to left field in the opening at-bat for the Titans. Nate Nankil then singled to center field to get on base. Zach Lew followed that up with another single, this time to short stop to advance Nankil to 2nd base. Colby Wallace would then get walked to load up the bases. Cole Urman then struck out swinging to make it two outs.
With the bases loaded and two outs, the Titans found a way to score five runs in the inning. Moises Guzman singled to left field to bring home Lew and Nankil. Brendan Bobo then hit a long ball to bring home Guzman and Wallace. At this point, Nick Dugan was taken off the mound for Stanford as Ty Uber came in to keep the Titans' offense at bay for the rest of the inning. Uber would do his job, not allowing the Titans to score any more runs. Maddox Latta would hit a single up the middle, but JT Navyac then popped up to 1st base to end the inning. 5-3 lead for the Titans.
In the top of the 2nd inning, Stanford got off to a rough start as Owen Cobb and Eddie Park both flied out to center field to give the Cardinal two quick outs. However, Troy would then get walked after which he would advance to 2nd base and then 3rd base thanks to two wild pitches. Graham would then get walked, forcing the Titans to make a pitching change of their own. Jason Blood came in to pitch for Evan Yates. Up next to bat would be Montgomery and Blood was able to strike him out.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Fullerton wasn’t able to get much going. After Connor struck out swinging, Nankil hit a single to center field only for Lew and Wallace to both fly out to center field. It was still a 5-3 game at the end of the 2nd inning.
The 3rd inning was really quiet as neither team got anyone on base. In the top of the inning, Moore flied out to right field while Bowser and Campbell both struck out swinging. In the bottom of the inning, Urman flied out to right field while Guzman and Bobo both struck out swinging.
In the top of the 4th inning, Stanford got on base right away as Saum got hit by a pitch to get on base. But then, Cobb flied out to left field, Park struck out looking, and Troy popped up to 2nd base to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 4th, Navyac was walked with one out and advanced to 2nd base thanks to a wild pitch. Connor then hit a double to bring home Navyac. Nankil then got walked after which Lew was walked, advancing Nankil to 2nd base and Connor to 3rd base. With the bases loaded and only one out, Uber’s day was done as Brandt Pancer came in to get Stanford out of this jam. Pancer was able to do just that as Wallace and Urman both struck out swinging to end the inning. 6-3 lead for Fullerton.
In the top of the 5th inning, Stanford was able to get on the board again as Moore hit a Ruthian blast to right field with two outs. Bowser was then able to reach 1st base thanks to an error from short stop, but Campbell struck out looking to end the top of the inning. It was now a 6-4 game.
In the bottom of the 5th, Fullerton responded with a run of their own. After Guzman flied out to left field, Bobo doubled to left center. Latta then lined out to the pitcher after which Navyac singled to right field to bring home Bobo. Connor then grounded out to 2nd base to end the inning. Fullerton once again had a three run cushion leading 7-4.
Neither team scored in the 6th inning, though Stanford did make a substitution. Alberto Rios pinched hit for Saum in the top of the inning and slid into the catcher spot in the bottom of the inning. Nicolas Lopez also came in to pitch for Pancer with two outs and struck out Wallace to end the inning.
In the top of the 7th inning, Stanford was able to chip away at the Titans’ lead a bit as they scored two runs. Fullerton made a pitching change at the start, bringing in Peyton Jones for Jason Blood. Jones would walk Troy, who was the first batter he faced. Graham then flied out to right field after which Montgomery struck out looking. Moore then hit a two-run dinger to bring home Troy, making it a 7-6 game. After Bowser got walked, Jimmy Nati came in to pinch hit for Campbell while Gavin Meyer came in to pitch for Jones. Nati failed to get on base as he flied out to left field.
In the bottom of the 7th, all three Fullerton batters (Urman, Guzman, and Bobo) failed to get on base, making it a quick inning. Stanford also made some substitutions as Park moved to center field and Henry Gargus moved to left field, replacing Nati who had just pinch hit.
In the top of the 8th inning, Stanford did not score, but they were able to force a pitching change. With two outs, Troy was able to single to left field to advance Cobb to 2nd base. This resulted in Jojo Ingrassia coming in to pitch for Meyer. The first batter Ingrassia faced was Graham, who lined out to 3rd base to end the top of the inning. In the bottom of the 8th, Ryan Bruno came in to pitch for Lopez. Things looked good early for Bruno as Latta grounded out to short stop after which Navyac struck out looking. In the next at-bat, Connor hit a four-bagger to right field, injecting some life into the Titans’ offense. This made it an 8-6 game.
Nankil then singled to the left side after which he advanced to 2nd base on a wild pitch and then 3rd base thanks to a passed ball. Lew then got walked after which a wild pitch advanced him to 2nd base and brought Nankil home. 9-6. Wallace then got walked, ending Bruno’s day on the mound as freshman Trevor Moore came in to pitch for the Cardinal.
Moore would walk Urman to load up the bases before walking Guzman and then hitting Bobo, bringing in two more runs. It was now an 11-6 game with the bases loaded. At this point, Moore’s day was done as another freshman came in to replace him in Toran O’Harran. O’Harran struck out Latta to end the inning. With one inning to go, Fullerton was sitting pretty with a five run lead.
In the top of the 9th inning, Stanford needed to get to work and to that end, they did just that. Montgomery hit a double down the left field line to get the party started after which Moore was walked. Bowser then hit a three-run tater to left field to make it an 11-9 lead for Fullerton. Just like that, it was now a two-run game. Gargus would then ground out to get the first out of the inning after which Rios hit a single to get the Cardinal back on track.
At this point, the Titans made a pitching change as Andrew Morones came in to pitch for Ingrassia. Cobb would then get walked, advancing Rios to 2nd base. This ended the day for Morones already as Faulks came in to pitch for him. Park would then strike out swinging for the second out of the inning. The next batter would be Troy, whom Faulks walked to load up the bases. Graham then was walked to bring home Rios, making it an 11-10 game.
Up next to the plate would be Montgomery, who hit a three-run double to bring home Graham, Troy, and Cobb. 13-11 lead for the Cardinal. The inning from hell for the Titans finally ended in the next at bat as Moore grounded out to 3rd.
In the bottom of the 9th inning, now needing two runs to stay alive, the Titans responded nicely. Carter White came in to pinch hit for Navyac and was hit by a pitch in the opening at-bat. At this point, Montgomery came in to pitch for the Cardinal, ending O’Harran’s day on the mound. This triggered a series of other moves for the Cardinal as Moore moved to catcher, Gargus moved to right field, and Rios went to left field.
Connor then reached 1st base on fielder’s choice as White would be out at 2nd base. Nankil then struck out looking before Lew homered to left field to bring home Connor. That was all the Titans needed to stay alive. It was now a 13-13 game. The Titans would not add any more runs in the rest of the inning, sending the game to extra innings. After Wallace was walked, Urman flied out to center field end the inning.
In the top of the 10th inning, the Cardinal offense went back to work and actually inflicted even more pain on the Titans than the previous inning, which is pretty crazy. Bowser got things going with a double to left field after which Gargus struck out. Rios then advanced to 1st base on a fielder’s choice as the Titans prevented Bowser from advancing to 3rd base. Cobb then tripled to right center to bring home Rios and Bowser. Cobb then scored on a wild pitch. It was now a 16-13 lead for the Cardinal.
At this point, Carter Herrera came in to pitch for Faulks. Park then grounded out to 1st base after which Troy was walked. Graham then doubled to left center, allowing Troy to score on a fielding error from center field. Montgomery then got hit by a pitch after which Moore singled to right center to bring home Graham. 18-13 lead for the Cardinal.
Realizing that nothing was working, Fullerton brought in Josh Howitt to pitch for Herrera. The first batter Howitt faced was Bowser, whom he walked. Before walking Bowser, Moore advanced to 2nd base on a throwing error from 1st base, bringing Montgomery home. 19-13. Gargus then got hit by a pitch to load up the bases after which Rios hit a single up the middle to bring home Bowser and Moore. Titans’ inning from hell part two finally then ended as Cobb struck out swinging. 21-13 lead for the Cardinal.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, Montgomery stayed on the mound and finished the job, not allowing the Titans to score any runs. 21-13 would be the final score as Montgomery got credited with the win.
For Cal State Fullerton, all they can say is they went on wild ride with one of the top three teams in the nation and forced them to win the series in extra innings. As a whole, the Titans have to feel confident from this weekend even if it didn’t go their way.
As for Stanford, while the pitching wasn’t great, the offense was utterly phenomenal. As a result of this win, D1Baseball.com now has them ranked #2 in the nation. The offense alone has people believing in them even with the pitching being shaky. If they can get things going on the mound at all, look out!
Up next for Stanford is a home game against Cal on Tuesday. Opening pitch will be at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. That will be a non-league game.
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