On Saturday, #8 Stanford baseball fell to Oregon on Saturday by a final score of 8-1. Oregon junior right-handed pitcher Logan Mercado (3-0) was the winning pitcher for the Ducks while Stanford freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Scott (5-1) was the losing pitcher for the Cardinal. Oregon improves to 24-9 overall and 9-5 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 22-10 overall and 10-4 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Oregon-Saturday, April 15th
The 1st inning was pretty uneventful as neither team got a man on base. That trend continued for Stanford in the top of the 2nd as Braden Montgomery, Malcolm Moore, and Drew Bowser all failed to get on base. The Cardinal bats remained quiet.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Oregon did not score, but they got going a bit offensively. Sabin Ceballos hit a single to center field to open up the bottom of the inning for the Ducks after which Tanner Smith doubled to right field, advancing Ceballos to third base. Jacob Walsh then fouled out to Moore at catcher for the first out. Then, Josiah Cromwick reached on a fielder’s choice as Ceballos was out at home plate. Bryce Boettcher then grounded out to the Scott on the mound to end the inning. Still a 0-0 game.
The top of the 3rd was more of the same for the Cardinal offense as Alberto Rios, Cole Hinkelman, and Owen Cobb once again were a three and out. In the bottom of the 3rd, the Ducks finally got on the board. With one out, Rikuu Nishida got walked and then stole second base. Colby Shade then singled up the middle advancing Nishida to third base. Drew Cowley then doubled to left field, bringing home Nishida and advancing Shade to third base. Ceballos then grounded out to short stop to bring home Shade. Smith then grounded out to short stop to end the inning. 2-0 lead for the Ducks.
In the top of the 4th, Eddie Park, Carter Graham, and Tommy Troy once again failed to get on base as the Cardinal offense continued to be silent. In the bottom of the 4th, Walsh hit a solo home run to left field for the Ducks in the opening at-bat. That would be the only hit the Ducks got in the inning, making it a 3-0 lead for them at the end of the 4th.
In the top of the 5th, Montgomery gave the Cardinal offense a bit of life by doubling to right center via ground rule double. But nobody else was able to get on base after that. In the bottom of the 5th with two outs, Cowley doubled to right field after which Ceballos homered to left field. Smith then flied out to right field to end the bottom of the inning. 5-0 lead for the Ducks.
The lone run for the Cardinal came in the top of the 6th inning. With one out, Cobb was walked after which Park singled through the right side to advance Cobb to third base. Graham then singled through the right side and was out at second base while Park advanced to third base and Cobb came home. Troy then flied out to right field to end the top of the inning. 5-1 lead for Stanford.
In the bottom of the 6th, Walsh immediately responded for the Ducks with a solo blast to left field. The Ducks wouldn’t score any more runs the rest of the inning, but Nick Dugan did end up coming in for Scott to get the final two outs for the Cardinal. 6-1 lead for Oregon at the end of the inning.
After another three and out for the Cardinal in the top of the 7th, Oregon scored two more runs in the bottom of the 7th as Walsh and Cromwick each got an RBI to make it an 8-1 lead for the Ducks. In the 8th inning, neither team scored and in the top of the 9th, Stanford did not score, making it an 8-1 final score. Toran O’Harran pitched the bottom of the 8th inning for the Cardinal while Mercado ended up pitching the entire game for the Ducks. He was fantastic on the mound.
At this point, all that Stanford can do is shake this one off and see if they can at least avoid a series sweep on Sunday. The bats have been quiet the first two games of this series for Stanford, so they really need to get things going offensively on Sunday for game three.
On that note, game three will be at 12:05 PM PT on Oregon Live Stream and KZSU radio. For a preview of that and probable pitchers, click here.
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