After escaping with an 8-7 victory over Cal in game one of their three-game series in Berkeley on Thursday, #8 Stanford baseball found a way to complete the series sweep by defeating Cal 18-8 on Friday and then following that up with 5-3 victory on Saturday courtesy of a game-winning home run by Cole Hinkelman.

Matt Scott (5-0) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal on Friday in a starting role while Christian Becerra was the losing pitcher for the Golden Bears in a starting role. On Saturday, Ryan Bruno (1-0) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while Brandt Pancer (3) picked up the save. Matt Lozovoy (0-1) was the losing pitcher for the Bears in a relief role.

Stanford improves to 21-7 overall and 10-2 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 12-15 overall and 3-12 in the Pac-12.

BOX SCORE: #8 Stanford at Cal-Friday, April 7th

BOX SCORE: #8 Stanford at Cal-Saturday, April 8th

Starting with the win on Friday, this one was one-way traffic for the Cardinal from the jump. Stanford head coach David Esquer didn’t put it in those terms and was humbler about how things went, but the Cardinal truly controlled this game from start to finish.

“Hey, it was a closer game than the score would dictate,” Esquer said after the game. “I thought it was, once we get past our starter, we’re kinda unsure what could happen. But, I think Drew Dowd came in and gave us a couple quality innings. Got away from him a little there. Just a little sloppy, but I thought our offense did a good job obviously with Drew Bowser a couple home runs and Hinkelman kinda got us started there driving in the first run for us. So, I thought everyone had a hand in it and it was a good ball game.”

Stanford scored two runs in the top of the 2nd inning via Hinkelman hitting a single to bring home Malcolm Moore and Carter Graham hitting a single to short stop, bringing home Alberto Rios. Stanford added two more runs in the top of the 3rd inning via a two-run homer to center field by Drew Bowser that brought home Moore. In the top of the 4th, Stanford added another two runs this time by Tommy Troy hitting a two-run blast to center field that brought home Eddie Park. This made it a 6-0 lead for the Cardinal entering the bottom of the 4th inning.

“You know what, it was a 2, 2, and 2. So we were kinda consistent,” Esquer said. “We got some big at bats from Tommy Troy with the big at bat and Drew Bowser. I think just trying to stay consistent with the attack was a big deal.”

“A lot, a lot,” Scott said of how much the early run support helped. “Having a six run lead in the fourth I believe. Fourth or fifth. Definitely helps a lot. You don’t have to be as fine. You just attack the hitters.”

Cal would get on the board in the bottom of the 4th as Kade Kretzschmar homered to right field, making it a 6-1 game. In the top of the 5th, Cal made a pitching change as Connor Sullivan came in to pitch for Christian Becerra. In the bottom of the 5th, Cal would add another run as Jack Johnston hit a solo blast to left field, making it a 6-2 game.

Stanford would add a run in the top of the 6th inning as Graham hit a single up the middle to bring home Park. This made it a 7-2 game. In the bottom of the 6th, Matt Scott’s day on the mound came to an end as Drew Dowd was brought in to get the final out.

“Good night, yeah,” Esquer said of Scott’s outing. “And to extend him a little bit with the 90 pitches, 95 pitches or so was a good deal and he’s getting better and better every time out.”

“Yeah, it feels good,” Scott said of getting the win on the mound in a rivalry series. “Especially on Saturday after getting the win on Friday, trying to not put a lot of pressure on Joey coming in on the third game. So Saturday. Feels good to get the series win out of the way and we can try to go for the sweep tomorrow.”

In the 7th inning, neither team scored. This kept it at a 7-2 game entering the 8th inning. However, in the 8th and 9th innings, Stanford’s offense went wild. In the top of the 8th, Moore hit a single to left center to bring home Braden Montgomery and then in the next at-bat, Bowser hit his second home run of the night to bring home Moore. That made it a 10-2 game.

“Yeah, it doesn’t come easy to us and it doesn’t just show up for us,” Esquer said of the offensive production. “And so, we’re really working at being consistent and coming to the park and being able to bring our best selves. And just different players are still trying to get their footing underneath them.”

“I think the offense was just very relentless tonight,” Bowser said. “We came in with a plan and we just executed it well.”

In the top of the 9th, Stanford added insult to injury by scoring eight runs as Montgomery got hit by a pitch to bring Park home; Moore hit a double to right field to bring home Troy and Graham; Cort MacDonald singled to first base to bring home Montgomery; Hinkelman singled to left field to bring home Moore; Trevor Haskins got walked to bring home MacDonald; Park singled down the left field line to bring home Rios; and then Graham singled to left field to bring home Hinkelman. This made it an 18-2 lead for the Cardinal at the end of the inning.

“I think there wasn’t a huge difference,” Bowser said between scoring 18 runs on Friday versus 8 runs on Thursday. “We were just very committed to our plan. I just think tonight a few big hits there and a few guys who came off the bench and got big hits as well. Carter Graham, big hit, Hinkelman, coming in and hitting, I think two knocks. Yeah, just big at-bats.”

In the process of lighting the Golden Bears up like a Christmas tree, Stanford forced Cal to burn through three pitchers in the 9th inning. Jack Kirrer first came in to replace Sullivan in the top of the inning only to have Ben Lake later replace him, who was then replaced by Vaughn Mauterer.

Cal would show some fight in the bottom of the 9th by scoring six runs to make it an 18-8 final score, but when you get down 18-2, the odds of a comeback are so slim that all you’re really trying to do is make the loss not look quite as bad as it really was. And to be clear, 18-8 is still a bad loss.

“I love it, I love it,” Bowser said of dominating Cal. “They’re a good team and we definitely had games here where they definitely challenged us. So coming out here and securing the first two is definitely important. Feels good. But obviously we have a job to do tomorrow.”

Touching quickly on Saturday’s game, this one really stings for Cal because they had a 3-2 lead all the way until the 9th inning. Stanford did jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first two innings, but Cal was able to answer by getting a run in the bottom of the 2nd and then adding two runs in the bottom of the 6th.

In the top of the 9th, Stanford found a way to pull ahead to take a 5-3 lead. With one out, Moore singled to short stop after which Saborn Campbell came in to pinch run. Bowser then struck out for the second out. Rios then drew a walk to keep the inning alive, advancing Campbell to second base after which Hinkelman hit a three-run home run to center field, making it a 5-3 game. The first home run of his career. Owen Cobb then popped up to second base to end the top of the inning.

“Yeah, the guy seemed a really tough match right on right,” Esquer said of inserting Hinkelman into the lineup on Friday. “And so you know, we just kinda went to our bench and say hey what kind of left-handed hitters could we have up there and Cole was deserving of a shot and gave us a couple hits today.”

In the bottom of the 9th, Stanford held Cal scoreless. Ryan Bruno, who picked up the pitching duties from Joey Dixon to start the 7th inning, got the first out of the 9th inning while Brandt Pancer came in to get the final two outs and pick up the save. It came down to the final out, but the Cardinal found a way to get the sweep.

For Cal, this series went about as bad as they could have imagined. Yes, two of the three games were decided by two runs or less. But that can’t make them feel any better. The middle game was an absolute blowout. Just not the way they envisioned this series going. Especially since they were at home.

As for Stanford, just the opposite. Given that I predicted Cal would take a game in this series, I think Stanford should feel really good to sweep this series. This series is a testament to Stanford’s resiliency, toughness, and ability to just find ways to win. It took a complete team effort.

“Just coming ready,” Bowser said of what the key would be to getting the sweep. “Preparing. Just expecting a dog fight. I think, you know, come in like that, good things will happen.”

Up next for Stanford is a two-game home series against Texas Tech. That will begin on Monday at 6:05 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and KZSU radio.

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