On Sunday, #9 Stanford baseball defeated Utah 5-1 to take a 2-0 series lead in their weekend series at Sunken Diamond. Stanford freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Scott (4-0) picked up the win for the Cardinal in a starting role while junior left-handed pitcher Drew Dowd (2) was awarded the save. Bryson Van Sickle was the losing pitcher for the Utes in a starting role. Stanford improves to 15-5 overall and 6-2 in the Pac-12 while Utah falls to 10-13 overall and 2-6 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Utah at Stanford-Sunday, March 26th
“Well, the story is Matt Scott, right?” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “What a performance. Eight innings for us and he pitched in control and we got him enough runs and we still left some runs out there and some opportunities, we’re not quite picking those up all the time to get some breathing room. But Matt Scott did a great job. Every time we scored he shut them down.”
Matt Scott was fabulous from the opening pitch. In the top of the 1st inning, Dakota Duffalo (struck out swinging), Landon Frei (fouled out to 1st base), and TJ Clarkson (struck out swinging) all failed to get on base for the Utes as Scott’s pitching overpowered them.
“I think just working the fastball in and out,” Scott said of what was working for him. “I didn’t really have my best stuff off-speed-wise, so just kind of attacking them at the heater. Working up, down, in and out, really was effective today.”
In the bottom of the 1st, Eddie Park hit a leadoff single to second base for the Cardinal after which Tommy Troy singled to right center and advanced to second base on the throw while Park advanced to third base. Carter Graham then grounded out to second base, bringing home Park and advancing Troy to third base. Braden Montgomery then singled to left field to bring home Troy. Malcolm Moore then singled to right field to advance Montgomery to second base before Drew Bowser grounded into a double play to end the bottom of the inning. 2-0 lead for the Cardinal.
“Top of the order’s big, keep getting them on,” Esquer said of Park and Troy’s performance. “And then you get Carter going and with Montgomery and Moore behind them, that makes you pretty tough to beat.”
“I feel like I was seeing the ball pretty well,” Troy said. “I was battling up there. I don’t feel a hundred percent at the plate. I’m still working on a couple things but staying confident and working really hard.”
In the top of the 2nd inning, Jayden Kiernan singled to center field for Utah after which Davis Cop singled to left field advancing Kiernan to second base. Cameron Gurney then grounded into a double play as Cop was out on the play while Kiernan advanced to third base. Unfortunately for Utah, Elijha Hammill grounded out to short stop to end the inning.
“Yeah, it’s huge,” Scott said of the support his defense gave him. “The eighth inning with [me] striking them out and then Malcolm being able to throw them out was huge. Also in the second inning, give up two singles back-to-back first and second, no one out, and then getting that huge double-play was definitely great.
“Both being freshmen, I think you tend to be with each other a lot more. He [Malcolm] is one of my best friends on the team. So, kinda having that chemistry definitely goes a long way. He’s a very supportive catcher, make a bad pitch and he’s not blaming you or anything. He’s right there with you. He takes a lot of credit for things, which oftentimes it’s my fault to be honest. But, having that support behind the plate is definitely crucial.”
In the bottom of the 2nd, Alberto Rios got walked for Stanford, but that ended up not yielding anything as Trevor Haskins grounded into a double play. Owen Cobb then singled to left center to give the Cardinal offense new life after which Park doubled down the right field line to bring home Cobb. Troy then flied out to right field to end the inning. 3-0 lead for the Cardinal.
“It’s good,” Troy said of scoring the early runs. “It puts you in a driver’s seat for sure when you punch them in the mouth early. So, it was really good to see that. Throw the punch early and give us momentum for the rest of the game.”
In the top of the 3rd inning, Scott made quick work of the Utah batters and none of them got on base. In the bottom of the inning, Stanford would not score, but they made things a bit more interesting. With two outs, the bases were loaded with Haskins at the plate, but he would fly out to right field to end the inning.
In the top of the 4th inning, Kiernan hit a single for Utah with two outs and advanced to second and then third base thanks to a couple of wild pitches. However, Gurney would then line out to end the top of the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Troy would double to left field for Stanford with two outs and steal third base only for Graham to ground out to short stop to end the inning.
The 5th inning was super uneventful as both teams failed to get a man on base. As a result, it remained a 3-0 lead for the Cardinal heading into the 6th inning.
“He just fills up the zone,” Troy said of Scott’s pitching. “You saw, he has good ride on his fastball, has a great slider, and he just fills it up. He challenges hitters and makes them feel uncomfortable with different speeds. I love watching him pitch every single time.”
In the top of the 6th inning, the Utah bats continued to be colder than a mother-in-law’s kiss as Duffalo (popped up to second base), Frei (flied out to right center), and Clarkson (flied out to right field) all failed to get on base. In the bottom of the 6th, Utah made a pitching change as Van Sickle was replaced on the mound by Cam Day. Despite the change on the mound, Stanford’s bats found new life as Rios singled to left field to get things going. Haskins would ground out to short stop, but that advanced Rios to second base. Cobb then singled to center field to bring home Rios.
Park then grounded out to first base unassisted while Cobb advanced to second base. Troy then doubled to left center to bring home Cobb, giving the Cardinal a second run for the inning. Graham then lined out to first base to end the inning. 5-0 Stanford lead.
“Oh man, it’s so fun,” Troy said of being back after missing some time. “I love playing with these guys every single day. Day in and day out. We just have the best atmosphere as a team, so it’s really nice to be back a part of it with the boys, you know and looking forward to sweeping tomorrow and get going with the rest of the season.”
Scott would find a way to pitch the duration of both the 7th and 8th innings for Stanford, keeping it at a 5-0 game into the 9th inning. There was a conversation between pitching coach Thomas Eager and Scott after the second out of the eighth inning, but rather than take Scott out, Stanford left him in there and he was able to get the next batter out to end the inning.
“You know, we just wanted to, hey he got that big double play and I think that gave us, hey let’s let him get this last out,” Esquer said of allowing Scott to pitch the full eight innings. “But I think Thomas went out there just to give him a breath and let him know like hey, this will be your last hitter here.”
“I think it’s just attacking the hitters,” Scott said of the key to staying out there. “Not really giving in. I had a few walks, I think three, lot of 3-2 counts, but really just trusting your stuff and going at them with everything.”
When the top of the 9th came, Stanford made a pitching change as Ryan Bruno came in to relieve Scott. Bruno’s day on the mound did not go well at all. The first batter he faced (Frei) got hit by a pitch after which Clarkson was walked. After getting Kiernan out via line out to right field, Cop would get walked to load up the bases. This ended Bruno’s day on the mound as Dowd came in to save the day.
“We’re trying to get him out there as often as we can,” Esquer said of Dowd. “Because I think we feel like we can get him hot and get him pitching like we know he can, and so the more we get him out there, the more opportunity he gets to come out and get comfortable in the game and eventually, I think he’s gonna take off.”
Because the tying run was on deck, this made it a save situation for Dowd. The first batter Dowd faced was Gurney, who reached first base on a fielder’s choice while Frei scored and Cop was out at second base. Kaden Carpenter then struck out looking to end the game. 5-1 would be the final score as Stanford hung on to win the series.
“Yeah, it’s huge,” Scott said of Dowd’s performance. “It’s never easy coming in with the bases loaded and close game like that, but coming in just trusting his stuff, not trying to do too much, getting that almost ground ball double play and then I think he struck the last two down. So that was awesome.”
For Stanford, this game really was all about Matt Scott. He was excellent all day and he got enough run support for the team to win rather comfortably as they got 15 hits to Utah’s three. He’s definitely getting more comfortable with each and every start.
“Yeah, I think so and I think I said before, I try to treat it like I’m going out there for one inning stints,” Scott said of his approach. “Just get the guys back in to hit.”
Things did get a little worrisome for the Cardinal in the 9th, but Dowd came in and did his job. They didn’t hit any home runs in this game, but they also didn’t need any to win the game. This was a good game for Stanford in that they showed they can win without hitting the longball.
“Yeah, that’s kind of part of our offense that we kinda count on,” Esquer said of home run hitting. “We didn’t have to have it today, which was good. We pitched. Old time baseball is pitching and defense.”
“It feels good,” Troy added. “I feel like we’re a really all-around team. Yeah, the longball is a big part of our game and even when it doesn’t show up, we still are well-rounded enough to win in other ways. I feel like we put up really good at-bats, the pitching today was unbelievable. Same with the defense. If we keep playing like that, playing clean, good baseball, we’re gonna win a lot of games.”
For Utah, this is a game they could have won, but the reality is they were outclassed for the first eight innings of the game. They really can’t be too upset that things didn’t go their way in the 9th. It would have really been quite the meltdown for the Cardinal to blow a 5-0 lead in one inning.
Up next is Monday’s series finale. That will be at 12:05 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and KZSU radio.
“Well, we gotta play with some energy,” Esquer said of getting the win on Monday. “They’re gonna come out desperate and in the Pac-12, you got an opportunity you gotta sweep somebody and if your down 0-2 you can’t get swept.”
“They’re always in the game somehow,” Troy said of Utah. “So, it’s important that we continue tomorrow to keep the pressure on and not let off the gas. Because you know how baseball is. Any team can beat any team. So yeah, it’s just important that we stay on them tomorrow.”
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