On Saturday, #7 Stanford baseball defeated #20 Arizona State 12-11 in a high scoring battle that was very back and forth. Stanford junior left-handed pitcher Drew Dowd (6-2) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while junior left-handed pitcher Ryan Bruno (6) picked up the save. Arizona State junior pitcher Owen Stevenson (4-2) was the losing pitcher for the Sun Devils in a relief role. Stanford improved to 30-13 overall and 17-6 in the Pac-12 while Arizona State fell to 29-17 overall and 14-8 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Arizona State-Saturday, May 6
Stanford got off to a strong start in this game as Tommy Troy hit a solo blast to center field with one out in the top of the 1st inning. Stanford would not score any more runs the rest of the inning, but they at least had the early lead. In the bottom of the 1st, Arizona State didn’t score and nobody got on base. This made it a 1-0 game at the end of the 1st inning.
In the top of the 2nd inning, Stanford added another run. This time it was Jake Sapien going yard to left center with one out. Stanford didn’t add any more runs the rest of the inning, making it a 2-0 game entering the bottom of the 2nd.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Arizona State went wild. Luke Keaschall jacked one deep to center field to make it a 2-1 game with no outs. With one out, Nu’u Contrades singled to right center and then stole second base after which Wyatt Crenshaw grounded out to second base, advancing Contrades to third. Isaiah Jackson then doubled to right center, bringing home Contrades. It was now a 2-2 game. After Matt Scott walked Kien Vu, his day on the mound was done as Nick Dugan came in for relief.
Nick McLain then singled through the left side to bring home Jackson and advance Vu to third base after which Luke Hill homered to right field to bring home McLain and Vu. Arizona State would not score any more runs the rest of the inning as the next batter Ryan Campos grounded out to end the inning. Arizona State now led 6-2.
In the top of the 3rd, Stanford failed to score any runs, keeping it a 6-2 game entering the bottom of the 3rd. In the bottom of the 3rd, Arizona State added one more run as Keaschall hit another solo home run, this time to left field with no outs. Arizona State would not score the rest of the inning, making it a 7-2 lead for them at the end of the 3rd inning.
In the top of the 4th inning, Stanford responded with seven runs to lead 9-7. After Malcolm Moore got walked, Drew Bowser blasted one deep over the left field wall, giving the Cardinal two runs. Sapien and Cobb then hit back-to-back singles as Sapien advanced to third base. Eddie Park then singled to the pitcher to advance Cobb to second base and bring home Sapien. Troy then doubled down the left field line to advance Park to third base and bring home Cobb. This resulted in a pitching change as Khristian Curtis was taken off the mound and replaced by Jonah Giblin.
Carter Graham would then hit a double to left center to bring home Troy and Park. Braden Montgomery was up next to the plate, hitting a single up the middle to bring home Graham. That was all the runs Stanford scored in the inning.
In the bottom of the 4th, Arizona State responded with two runs to tie the game up 9-9. Vu got things going with a single down the left field line that was a bunt before advancing to second base via wild pitch. McLain then singled down the right field line after which Hill reached first base on a fielder’s choice as McLain was out at second base while Vu scored. After Campos was walked, Dugan’s day on the mound was done as Brandt Pancer came in.
Keaschall then got walked to load up the bases after which Jacob Tobias singled to left field to bring home Hill and advance all other runners. Contrades then struck out swinging after which Krenshaw grounded out to first base to end the inning. Arizona State was unable to take the lead.
After Stanford failed to score in the top of the 5th, Arizona State responded with one run in the bottom of the inning to take a 10-9 lead. Jackson doubled down the right field line after which Vu grounded out to the pitcher, advancing Jackson to third base. McLain then flied out to center field to bring home Jackson. Hill then struck out swinging to end the inning.
The seesaw nature of the game continued in the top of the 6th inning as Stanford scored two runs to go up 11-10. Troy doubled down the right field line with no outs after which Graham reached first base and advanced to second base on a fielding error while Troy came home. After Montgomery grounded out to second base to advance Graham to third, Alberto Rios singled up the middle to bring home Graham. Stanford didn’t add any more runs the rest of the inning, but at least regained the lead once again.
Drew Dowd came in to pitch for Pancer in the bottom of the 6th. Campos singled to left field to get things going for the Sun Devils after which he stole second base with one out after Keaschall flied out to left field. Thanks to a wild pitch, Campos advanced to third base. Tobias then struck out swinging for the second out. Contrades then was walked before stealing second base while Campos stole home plate to tie the game up 11-11. Crenshaw then flied out to left field to end the bottom of the inning.
In the 7th inning, neither team scored. However, Arizona State did make a pitching change as Josh Hansell came in for Giblin. Entering the 8th inning, it was still a tie game.
In the top of the 8th inning, Arizona State made a pitching change at the beginning as Stevenson came in for Hansell. That move didn’t pay off for the Sun Devils as Stanford broke the tie for good. Graham singled up the middle to get things rolling after which he advanced to second base on a passed bal. Then, Montgomery got walked on a wild pitch which advanced Graham to third base. Rios then grounded into a double play, which brought home Graham. After Moore doubled down the left field line, Bowser struck out swinging to end the top of the inning. 12-11 lead for Stanford.
From there, Stanford hung on to win 12-11. In the bottom of the 8th, Dowd did a nice job, only giving up a single to Campos. In the bottom of the 9th following a scoreless top of the inning, Ryan Bruno came in and got the save without giving up a hit or a walk.
For Stanford, this was a huge win because it clinched the series win. While the pitching of Scott was once again shaky, their bats came to the rescue as did Dowd and Bruno. The back end of the bullpen has been getting better each week and Bruno in particular seems to have found a new gear.
Stanford would go on to win game three on Sunday 9-4. Full recap of that to follow.
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