On Sunday, #5 Stanford picked up a 10-6 home victory over the Oregon Ducks to win the third and final game of the series. Oregon won the first two games of the series on Friday and Saturday. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Drew Dowd (3-0) picked up the win for the Cardinal while freshman right-handed pitcher Tommy Brandenburg (1-1) was awarded the loss for the Ducks. Stanford improves to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-12 while Oregon falls to 10-6 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12.
“Well shoot, I don’t know that we played [better]…Drew Dowd was probably the difference,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “I thought we still didn’t play very well, right? We’re lucky to win. I thought they played a great weekend. Drew Dowd was the difference today. I thought we still made quite a bit of mistakes. They gave us 13 free bases and we didn’t really put them away from the game. They were still in it ‘til the end.”
In the top of the 1st inning, Dowd was able to hold the Ducks scoreless, getting off to a solid start. Oregon left fielder Tanner Smith was out at first base in the opening at-bat after which two men were able to get on base: center fielder Colby Shade hitting a single and designated hitter Brennan Milone getting walked. That would be all she wrote for Oregon’s offense in the top of the 1st inning as 1st baseman Jacob Walsh struck out swinging and short stop Josh Kasevich reached first base on fielder’s choice as Milone would be out at second base.
In the bottom of the 1st, Stanford would get on the scoreboard. Center fielder Brock Jones was hitting lead off and he got walked to get things going. 3rd baseman Drew Bowser would then get on base thanks to an error as Jones advanced to second base. Designated hitter Brett Barrera would then get walked to load up the bases. After 1st baseman Carter Graham fouled out to third base, catcher Kody Huff flied out to center field, driving in Jones. 2nd baseman Tommy Troy would get on base via fielder’s choice as Barrera was out at second base to end the inning. 1-0 Stanford lead.
In the top of the 2nd inning, Oregon responded to tie up the game. Catcher Josiah Cromwick hit a double down the left-field line and would advance to third base after right fielder Anthony Hall lined out to right field. 3rd baseman Sam Novitske would ground out to second base, driving in Cromwick to tie up the game. 2nd baseman Gavin Grant would single to right center before getting caught stealing second base during Smith’s second at-bat. That would end the top of the 2nd inning with a 1-1 tie.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Stanford would score four runs thanks to a grand slam home run by Barrera. After left fielder Eddie Park grounded out to short stop, short stop Adam Crampton would get walked, putting him at first base. Right fielder Owen Cobb would then fly out to right field, advancing Crampton to second base. Jones would then get hit by a pitch and Bowser would get walked to load up the bases. In the next at bat Barrera hit his grand slam to left center. It was after this that Oregon pulled Brandenburg off the mound and put in Jacob Hughes. Hughes would strike out Graham looking to end the inning. Stanford was now up 5-1.
In the top of the 3rd, Oregon would add one more run to their tally. After Smith got out to lead off the inning, Shade hit a single to left center. Shade would then advance to second base after a wild pitch. Shade would then advance to third base after Milone grounded out to second base. After a single from Walsh, Shade was driven home. That would be the only run Oregon would score as Cromwick striking out would end the inning. 5-2 Stanford lead.
Stanford wouldn’t generate any runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Huff flied out to left field, Joe Lomuscio would get walked as he was pinch hitting for Troy, and Park flied out to center field for the first two outs. Lomuscio would get to third base thanks to a wild pitch and Crampton would get walked to make it a man on first and third during Cobb’s at-bat. Cobb would not be able to drive anyone in as he popped up to short stop.
In the top of the 4th, Oregon would not be able to score. Stanford did make a couple of defensive adjustments with Lomuscio moving to right field and Cobb moving to 2nd base. Hall would ground out, Novitske would strike out, and Smith would ground out. Grant would get walked before Smith’s at-bat, but it was all for naught.
Stanford would add another run in the bottom of the 4th inning. After Jones struck out, Bowser and Barrera would get walked. Graham would then fly out to center field, advancing Bowser to third base. Huff would then hit a single to right field, driving in Bowser and advancing Barrera to second base. Lomuscio would then fly out to end the inning. 6-2 Stanford lead.
In the top of the 5th inning, Oregon got in a two out hole really quick as Shade flied out to center field and Milone grounded out to third base. Walsh would hit a single to right center before Kasevich fouled out to 1st base to end the top half of the inning.
In the bottom of the 5th, Oregon made a pitching change as Scott Ellis came in for Hughes. Park would single to center field followed by Crampton getting hit by a pitch advancing Park to second base. After that, Cobb, Jones, and Bowser all collectively failed to advance anyone further.
The top of the 6th went smooth for Stanford as Dowd struck out all three batters: Cromwick, Hall, and Novitske.
“I think my curveball was pretty good today,” Dowd said. “Down and up in the zone. Added a slider today that worked a lot against lefties. I mean, those were my two main pitches. Fastball and changeup were there, but I think the curveball and slider were definitely really working today…The slider, that was the first time I threw a slider in a game today and I had two strikeouts on it, so I’d say that was one thing that I’ve been working on a lot that came out in play today.”
As for the bottom of the 6th, this also went Stanford’s way as they were able to add two more runs. Barrera would hit a double followed by another double from Graham that would drive him in. After Huff and Lomuscio got out, Park would get walked. Crampton would then hit a single that advanced Park to third base and drove in Graham. Cobb would then strike out swinging to end the inning. 8-2 Stanford lead.
“Esqy always says that we’re just growing into our offense,” Graham said. “And I think this weekend was our first time making some big steps forward. I mean, we have a lot of really talented guys who are just missing pitches for a while and that kinda was just the name of our game for a bit. But, this weekend was kinda the first weekend where guys started taking advantage of good pitches to hit as a team and we really started playing more team offense instead of just hoping that we hit a long ball and knowing that the long balls would come. So, I think that was the biggest difference is just playing a little better team offense for sure.”
In the top of the 7th inning, Oregon added a run thanks to Grant homering to left center in the opening at bat. This would force Stanford to make a pitching change as Brandt Pancer came in for Dowd. Smith would get a single off Pancer and then steal second. With him in scoring position, it looked like Oregon might close the gap even further. But in the end, Smith would be left stranded as Shade grounded out, Milone fouled out to 1st base, and Walsh flied out to left field. 8-3 Stanford lead.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, Oregon brought in Stone Churby to pitch for Ellis. Churby didn’t get off to a great start as he walked Jones. Thankfully for Churby, Jones would get caught stealing second base and from there it was smooth sailing as Bowser flied out to left field and Barrera struck out swinging.
In the top of the 8th inning, Oregon added another run. Stanford would bring in Ryan Bruno for Pancer, but after Cromwick and Hall got on first and second base, Stanford made another pitching change, bringing in Cody Jensen for Bruno. That pitching change didn’t seem to work as Novitske hit a single to drive in Cromwick and advance Hall to second base. Grant would bail out Jensen as he grounded into a double-play to end the top of the inning. 8-4 Stanford lead.
In the bottom of the 8th, Graham homered to center field to make it a 9-4 Stanford lead with no outs. Huff would then double down the left field line and advance to third after Lomuscio flied out to center field. After Park singled up the middle, Huff scored, making it a 10-4 lead. After Oregon made a pitching change of their own, bringing in Matt Dallas for Churby, Cobb would foul out and Jones would strike out swinging to end the inning.
“It’s been a bit of a struggle,” Esquer said of getting their bats going this year. “It was a struggle today. We scored 10 runs, but there was probably 15 to 20 runs out there had we been really rolling. Like I said, they gave us 13 free bases and we only scored 10 runs. So, that’s still something we’re going to grow into. Haven’t grown into that offense yet. But I think we will. We have the ability. We got the personnel to be pretty good. We’re just not there yet.”
“I do my best to be super aggressive,” Graham said of his approach. “So I think that was a big step for me this weekend was just I got very few fastballs the whole weekend. So, just being ready to hit other pitches, being balanced. Staying on fastball, timing with being balanced enough to hit anything else is kinda my approach and kinda what worked for me this weekend and where I like to stick with.”
With a 10-4 lead going into the top of the 9th, all Stanford needed to do was record three outs and that would be ball game. Oregon didn’t make it easy though as Smith doubled to left center before advancing to third base on a wild pitch during Shade’s at-bat. Shade would strike out looking and Milone would fly out to right field, helping Stanford breathe a bit. Walsh would then homer to right center, making it a 10-6 Stanford lead. Kasevich would then go to bat hoping to extend the game, but he would end up grounding out to short stop to end the game. Stanford 10 Oregon 6 was the final score.
“Well, we didn’t have any opportunity, could not let our guard down,” Esquer said. “At any point, even in the ninth inning up by six it was not a time to let our guard down.”
For Stanford, this was a much-needed win. Getting swept by the Ducks, especially at home, would have been really bad. They didn’t play their best baseball this weekend, but they at least got a win at the end and now go into their Arizona road trip with at least a bit of momentum.
“Oh, this salvage, I mean, by the end of the year, you could point to this win as being really big,” Esquer said. “My old coach, Coach Marquess, he always said that the key to the league is when you get the opportunity to sweep someone and don’t get swept. You gotta find a way to not get swept and we were able to do that.”
“Today was everything,” Graham added. “Moving forward, momentum, knowing what we have to do to win, today was huge for us. Obviously Drew Dowd had an unbelievable performance. If that guy can give us that every Sunday, we’re going to be a really hard team to beat. So, it was a fantastic day for sure.”
One change that David Esquer made was he decided to give freshman right fielder/right-handed pitcher Braden Montgomery the day off. After a difficult outing on Saturday, Esquer felt it was best to rest him on Sunday and only use him if they really needed to as a bullpen option.
“Yeah, yeah, and we knew that we may use him in the bullpen,” Esquer said of his star freshman. “So wanted to give him a day to have him pitch without us having to use him on the field.”
One guy who did shine this weekend was Carter Graham, who had a big outing on Saturday as well as Sunday. He’s been having a good season so far and really feels like this past week of practice really prepared him for this weekend’s matchup with the Ducks.
“He’s done a great job,” Esquer said of Graham. “He’s probably the most comfortable guy we have in the box. He’s doing a great job picking up big hits for us. He’s just playing really relaxed and with something to prove. We need him to rub off on a few of our others.”
“Fortunately we had a really good week of practice,” Graham said. “We got some really talented guys on our team who kinda always making you better. Working with them in drills and learning from each other. So, that’s helped me a lot kinda make this transition to this weekend and then when you got guys hitting around you like Kody Huff or Brett Barrera, you know you’re going to get good pitches to hit because those guys are as dangerous as anybody. Those guys are as dangerous as anybody, so I was fortunate to get some good pitches to hit, some good situations, and I took advantage.”
As far as what the difference was in Sunday’s game, it really was the performance of Drew Dowd, who gave up just three earned runs in 6.0 innings to go along with six strikeouts. He’s now 3-0 on the season and is having a really good start to his 2022 season.
“I just kinda went out there like I normally would,” Dowd said. “I think a lot of the stuff right now, there’s a lot of pressure, I feel like. And the thing is we know we’re a good team. We know we can play with anybody. So I just went out there and played my game. They’re a really tough team, they made it really tough on me, but all I had to do was just give our offense a chance to win and I feel like I did that and I’m happy with it and I’m happy that we won. No game, no matter what it is, whether it’s a Friday night, whether it’s a 1-1 series tied on Sunday. Every game matters, especially with the Pac-12. We’re trying to win the Pac-12 title, so it was a huge win for us.”
As for Brock Jones, he’s still not having the kind of impact that Stanford would like him to have. The key really is for him to stay patient and also get on base, something that he has been doing a good job of.
“Well, he’s been on base consistently every game,” Esquer said of Jones. “His game will come to the forefront sooner than later. But, it’s been a rough start for him. A character builder for sure. Hey, he’s just gotta stay with it.”
In regard to Stanford dropping game one in back-to-back weeks of a series, that’s something that they have to improve on. They learned the hard way that if you drop game one, it becomes really tough to pull out a series.
“We need to play better just behind [Alex] Williams, who typically is pretty solid for us,” Esquer said. “But, Northridge was tough on him and we let some opportunities go and then Oregon came out and was tough and we didn’t take advantage of they had their Friday starter down, their Friday starter only went maybe two innings and they went to the bullpen and we weren’t able to take advantage of the bullpen on Friday night which you have to do.”
Up next for Stanford will be their road trip to face the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson for a three game series. Their first game will be on Saturday at 5:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks.
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