On Tuesday, #8 Stanford baseball defeated Cal 6-5 as Jake Sapien hit a walk-off single to bring home Saborn Campbell in the bottom of the 9th inning. Stanford freshman right-handed pitcher Toran O’Harran (1-1) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while sophomore right-handed pitcher Andres Galan (0-3) was the losing pitcher for the Golden Bears in a starting role. Stanford improves to 26-12 overall while Cal falls to 18-19. Since this was a non-league game, this did not count towards Pac-12 standings. That means Stanford remains 13-5 in Pac-12 play while Cal remains 6-15 in Pac-12 play.

BOX SCORE: Cal at Stanford-Tuesday, April 25

“Well, you know, like I was telling them, I don’t know that I would have paid to watch the first eight innings, but I would have paid to watch that ninth inning,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “And you know, when we break it down and we’re a little desperate about the game, we can pull out our best baseball. So, great ending. Great job obviously. Tommy Troy and Montgomery there in the ninth getting us tied and then Sapien with a big at-bat. Real disciplined at-bat there to win the game.”

Nicolas Lopez was the starting pitcher for Stanford and he got off to a strong start. In the top of the 1st inning, nobody for the Bears got on base. Max Handron grounded out to short stop while both Caleb Lomavita and Rodney Green, Jr. flied out to left field.

In the bottom of the 1st, the only Cardinal to get on base was Carter Graham, who doubled to center field with one out. As a result, it was a 0-0 game at the end of the 1st inning.

In the top of the 2nd inning, Kade Kretzschmar got hit by a pitch to give the Bears offense some life, but then Peyton Schulze grounded into a double play after which Carson Crawford grounded out to third base.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Stanford added a run. Alberto Rios hit a single up the middle after which Drew Bowser doubled down the right field line to advance Rios to third base. Malcolm Moore then fouled out to left field, bringing home Rios. Stanford would not score any more runs the rest of the inning, making it a 1-0 game at the end of the 2nd inning.

In the top of the 3rd inning, Cal took the lead way from Stanford as Braden Montgomery came in to pitch for Lopez. Montgomery’s day on the mound did not go so well as Nathan Manning doubled to right field after which Nico Button singled to right field, bringing home Manning. Cade Campbell then hit a sacrifice bunt for the first out, advancing Button to second base. Handron then singled to left field, advancing Button to third base. This ended Montgomery’s day on the mound as he went to the designated hitter spot while Max Meier came in to pitch.

“I’m really just gonna go out and compete in every facet, in everything, in every way that my name is called upon,” Montgomery said of his pitching. “And so, going forward I’ll just do what I do. Continue to compete.”

The first batter Meier faced was Lomavita, who grounded out to Meier, bringing home Button and advancing Handron to second base. It was now a 2-1 lead for the Bears. Up next to the plate would be Green, Jr. who hit a two-run dinger to right center, bringing home Handron. Kretzschmar then struck out swinging to end the top of the inning. Cal now had a 4-1 lead.

In the bottom of the 3rd, Graham got walked after which Tommy Troy struck out looking. Montgomery then struck out swinging as Graham stole second base. Thanks to a passed ball with Rios at the plate, Graham advanced to third base. With two outs and Graham on third base, Bowser then struck out swinging ending the bottom of the inning.

In the top of the 4th inning, Nick Dugan came in to pitch for Meier. Dugan did a solid job in his first inning, only giving up a walk to Manning. Stanford was starting to settle in on the mound again.

In the bottom of the 4th, Moore doubled to right field and with one out, Owen Cobb was walked. Eddie Park would then foul out to third base after which Graham popped up to second base to end the bottom of the inning. It was still a 4-1 lead for Cal.

In the top of the 5th, the only Cal player to get on base was Lomavita, who singled through the right side with two outs. Cal’s offense was starting to go quiet after having an explosive 3rd inning.

In the bottom of the 5th, Stanford finally got on the board again. Troy got things going with a solo shot to right center, making it a 4-2 game. Montgomery then singled up the middle after which Rios was walked. Bowser then flied out to center field, advancing Montgomery to third base. It was at this point that Galan’s day was done on the mound for Cal as Austin Turkington came in.

Turkington then gave up a fly out to center field from Moore, which brought home Montgomery. It was now a 4-3 game. As a result of Montgomery coming home, Turkington’s day on the mound was done as Tyler Stasiowski came in for even more relief. After Sapien was walked, Cobb reached on a fielder’s choice as Sapien was out at second base. The bottom of the 5th was over.

In the top of the 6th, Kretzschmar hit a solo home run to right field off Dugan, making it a 5-3 lead for the Bears with no outs. Schulze and Crawford then struck out swinging after which Manning grounded out to short stop.

In the bottom of the 6th, Robert Aivazian came in to pitch for Stasiowski, hoping to get the Bears’ pitching to settle in. Aivazian did his job in the bottom of the 6th by not allowing any Cardinal to score. The only Cardinal batter to get on base was Troy, who singled to short stop with two outs.

The next two innings would be scoreless for both teams. There was a pitching change in the top of the 8th inning as Matt Scott came in for relief, ending Dugan’s overall solid day on the mound.

“I think Cal came out and obviously Green with the home run and Kretzschmar with the home run, those guys, they did a nice job in both those at-bats,” Esquer said. “I think Dugan was a key. He kind of stabilized the middle. Matt Scott was gonna get a little work based on low pitch count on the weekend and that was big for us, too. To get him out there and pitching well.”

Entering the 9th inning, it was still a 5-3 lead for Cal as the Bears just needed to hang on for one more inning. In the top of the 9th, O’Harran came in to pitch for Scott. O’Harran did a nice job only giving up a single to Manning, who hit a single to center field with two outs. Dom Souto fouled out to first base to end the top of the inning.

In the bottom of the 9th and down by two runs, the Cardinal needed to get to work and they did. Troy got things going with a single to first base, which was a choppy hit that dribbled through the infield. Somehow Troy was able to get on base in time.

“The energy was still great,” Sapien said of the mood of the team entering the bottom of the 9th. “I mean, as soon as Tommy got that little dribbler base hit, we knew we had it in the bag.”

Up next to the plate would be Montgomery, who hit a two-run no-doubter to right field. As soon as the ball left Montgomery’s bat, the whole stadium knew it was gone. The ball was saying “See ya!” It was now a 5-5 game.

“Yeah, a little swinging bunt there,” Esquer said of Troy’s hit. “And then Montgomery, he’s been pressing a little bit and it’s good to see him get that big hit. Hopefully he can relax down.”

“Just stepping in the box after Tommy just started off the inning right is just kinda trying to do my part and pass it on to the next guy,” Montgomery said of his home run. “Just so happened to get a ball over the plate that I could handle and I just kinda let it go from there...It’s awesome every single time. I mean, especially because we know who we’re playing against. It's Tuesday, crosstown rivalry, we know how much we want this game, how much they want this game, and so it’s just, it’s exhilarating in the moment just to do that.”

At this point, Cal was starting to sense what was going on. Their two-run lead had evaporated. They were just playing to force extra innings.

Up next to the plate would be Rios, who grounded out to short stop for the first out. Bowser then singled up the middle, ending Aivazian’s day on the mound as Daniel Colwell came in to pitch. Moore then singled through the right side, advancing Bowser to third base.

At this point, Campbell came in to pinch run for Bowser. Campbell is one of the fastest players on the team, so this was a good substitution. Stanford was clearly going for the win now.

Up next to the plate would be Sapien and he delivered handsomely by hitting a single down the right field line. This brought home Campbell and advanced Moore to second base. Ball game. Stanford won 6-5.

“So, we preach to get the next guy to the plate,” Sapien said of his game-winning hit. “And I just felt like my first two at-bats were kinda selfish at-bats. I didn’t get the job done. I wanted to make sure I could get the ball to the right side and I happened to get the pitch to do it.

“It’s the best! To just, when you get the hit and you’re running around the bases you see all the guys coming out to you, you can just really see the culture and just how much each player really cares about your success and what you’re doing moving forward.”

“I mean, honestly I just get so happy to see people ready when their name is called upon,” Montgomery said. “Especially for Sapien. It’s huge for him and I was so excited for him. Just so happy that it was him! I mean, he’s always ready when his name is called upon and that’s just so huge for our guys to see and especially our young guys. Like, you’re gonna get your chance and you’ve gotta come up for the boys and so I was so happy to see that.”

First of all, it needs to be said that this is a gut-wrenching loss for Cal. It’s a rivalry game and they got swept by Stanford in Berkeley. They were really hoping to at least ease the pain a bit by winning their second game of the season at Sunken Diamond. Instead, they fell apart like Cinderella’s carriage as the clock struck midnight. It’s been a rough season for the Bears and this loss sort of sums up what kind of season it has been up in Berkeley. That said, they’ve battled hard every time they’ve faced Stanford and that’s something the Cardinal have noticed.

“Whatever it says on paper, that team’s gonna, they’re always gonna play their best game against us,” Montgomery said of Cal. “I mean, we all know it and so we’ve gotta be ready to compete every time they step on the field and every time we step on the field. And so just kinda going with that. Like, we know it’s gonna be a dog fight and we were prepared for that and we were ready to give it our all.”

Switching gears to Stanford, this was a very gritty and gutty win. The first eight innings weren’t particularly pretty, but the final inning was a thing of beauty. This is the kind of clutch hitting and comeback victory that they’re likely going to need to do at some point in the postseason. Getting a taste of that kind of victory is a good thing for them. Especially with it being on a Tuesday. Their first Tuesday win of the season.

“Yeah, I think so,” Esquer said when asked if this win showed growth from his team. “It was getting old not playing very well on Tuesday at all. The first time Cal beat us is maybe the easiest win I’ve ever seen Cal have over Stanford. Even all my years at Cal. It was an easy win. We weren’t very competitive. So, we’ve had some trouble finding our footing on a Tuesday, right? I think Santa Clara’s beat us, Sacramento State beat us, who was our fourth? Texas Tech.

“So yeah, they’ve been hard. They’ve been hard and we haven’t had the luxury of like a stable Tuesday starter. Brendan Beck, his apprenticeship was a Tuesday starter and Alex Williams, his apprenticeship was the Tuesday starter. So we only had a guy that we could ride six or seven innings if they could. So, we’ve had to staff most of our Tuesdays and that’s a challenge trying to get guys innings. So, it was a good win. It was a good win for us.”

“Yeah, for sure,” Montgomery echoed about this first Tuesday win showing growth. “We were all painfully aware of the stat and so going into it we just wanted to I dunno, just play our game. I mean, it’s the same as every other game and so it’s no reason to put more weight on it or put more pressure on ourselves. Just come out and play our game and let everything take care of itself and that’s what happened.”

Stanford has had different heroes every night. In this game, it was Sapien. His game winning hit was big and is a testament to the depth that is on this Stanford team.

“We have a great team, no matter if the guys are on the bench, come in, they’re always ready,” Sapien said. “And I mean, Hink came off the bench, I came off the bench, Temo on Sunday came off the bench you know, hit a homer and stuff. I just think our team as a whole, no matter who you put up there is just gonna get the job done.”

One move that was made that was interesting was having Graham move to right field and have Sapien step in at first base. Stanford was hoping this move would preserve their ability to pitch Montgomery and keep him at designated hitter. While the move looked a bit risky in the first eight innings, seeing Sapien hit that game winner made it pay off in the end.

“Well, we knew we were going to DH Montgomery today to give him a chance to pitch,” Esquer explained. “So, that just, who do we stick in the outfield and keep our best hitting lineup in there. So, it looked like maybe moving Carter out there for a day and let Sapien play first was, give us the most offense.”

“I was comfortable,” Sapien said of the move. “I practice there every day and get my work in with Carter every day and I was comfortable. I was ready.”

Up next for Stanford is a three-game home series against UCLA. That will begin on Friday at 7:00 PM PT on ESPNU and KZSU radio.

“Well, it’s going to be a tough weekend,” Esquer said of the series against the Bruins. “They pitch it well and they’re gonna provide a big challenge for our hitters and offensively they do enough to give our pitchers some trouble, too.”

“Just keep the culture up,” Sapien added. “Keep the energy up and win tomorrow’s practice.”

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