On Saturday, #9 Stanford baseball defeated Utah 6-4. Stanford junior left-handed pitcher Drew Dowd (3-1) was the winning pitcher in a relief role while Utah redshirt senior right-handed pitcher Zac McCleve (0-1) was the losing pitcher in a relief role. Stanford improves to 14-5 overall and 5-2 in the Pac-12 while Utah falls to 10-12 overall and 2-5 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Utah at Stanford-Saturday, March 25th
“You know, good opening ball game,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “We were probably a little bit under water coming out of finals and you never know how you’re gonna come out when the kids have been studying and staying up and doing all those things.
“So, I’ve been in that game quite a bit, I’ve seen it where you fight yourself to shake off that rust and get back to your rhythm. We did just enough. We had some big at-bats, obviously Alberto Rios and Drew Bowser picked us up and Sapien early had a really big at-bat. We left a ton of guys on base and we could have left the game on the bases but Drew didn’t let us.”
In the top of the 1st inning, Stanford starting pitcher Quinn Mathews made quick work of the Ute batters as Dakota Duffalo grounded out, Landon Frei struck out swinging, and TJ Clarkson struck out swinging.
In the bottom of the 1st inning, Utah starting pitcher Ernesto Lugo-Canchola was also able to keep the Cardinal scoreless, though it was a little dicier for him. Tommy Troy singled with one out to right center after which Braden Montgomery was walked with two outs. However, Malcolm Moore struck out looking to end the bottom of the inning.
In the top of the 2nd, Jayden Kiernan singled through the right side after which Davis Cop was walked. The Utes had some life. Then, Elijha Hammill reached on a fielder’s choice via bunt as he was unable to advance Kiernan to third base, who was out. Matt Flaharty then struck out swinging after which Jake Gish grounded out to third base to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Drew Bowser got things going for the Cardinal with a single up the middle after which Alberto Rios was walked. Jake Sapien then doubled to left field to advance Rios to third base and bring home Bowser. Owen Cobb then grounded out to second base to advance Sapien to third base and bring Rios home. Eddie Park then flied out to left field to bring home Sapien for the third run. Troy then struck out looking to end the bottom of the inning. 3-0 lead for the Cardinal.
In the top of the 3rd, Utah was able to get on the board. With two outs, Frei hit a double to left field after which Clarkson was walked. Kiernan then doubled to left field to advance Clarkson to third base and bring home Frei. Cop then grounded out to short stop to end the top of the inning. 3-1 was now the score.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Carter Graham (ground out to short stop), Braden Montgomery (strike out swinging), and Malcolm Moore (struck out swinging) all failed to get on base, keeping it a 3-1 game at the end of the inning.
The 4th inning was uneventful as nobody from either team as able to get on base. This kept it at a 3-1 game into the 5th inning with both starting pitchers still in the game.
In the top of the 5th inning, Mathews once again made quick work of the Utah batters as nobody got on base.
“I made pitches when I needed to,” Mathews said. “Good squad over there, they’re old, which I mean hey, my hat goes off to a couple of those guys. I mean, Brendan Beck’s boy got me three times, Kiernan, so he had three knocks off me on three good pitches. I mean, good for him.
“But yeah, like I said, old squad for sure. Wasn’t a great day for me but found a way to make pitches when I needed to. The defense really bailed me out when I needed them to. So, again it was a good team win today and I mean overall, I pitched ok.”
In the bottom of the 5th, Cobb singled to short stop for the Cardinal after which he was out at second base as Park reached on a fielder’s choice. Troy then doubled to right center to advance Park to third base. Graham then struck out looking after which Montgomery was intentionally walked. Moore then grounded out to first base to end the inning. Still a 3-1 game.
“I don’t think so,” Bowser said when asked if they felt rusty at all from an extra day off. “I think it was just one of those days. It happens in baseball where bats are a little cold and we’re gonna need guys like Quinn and Brandt and Dowd to put it together and keep us there and play defense and then eventually bats will get going late and we win.”
In the top of the 6th inning, the Utes would score a run to narrow the gap. With one out, Kiernan hit a single after which Cop singled to right center to advance Kiernan to third base. Hammill then reached on a fielder’s choice as Cop was out at second base while Kiernan scored. Flaharty then struck out swinging to end the top of the inning. It was now a 3-2 game.
In the bottom of the 6th, the Utes rolled with a new pitcher as Jaden Harris came in to pitch for Lugo-Canchola. Bowser hit a single up the middle in the first at-bat after which Rios grounded out to short stop, advancing Bowser to second base. Sapien then got walked after which Cobb struck out swinging for the second out. This ended Harris’ day on the mound as Brady Maylett came in. Park would then reach first base on a fielder’s choice as Sapien was out at second base to end the inning. It was still a 3-2 game.
In the 7th inning, neither team would score. Mathews only gave up a double to Bruer Webster in the top of the inning. As for the bottom of the inning, Maylett had a bit more of an adventure as he walked Troy and then allowed him to advance to second base thanks to a wild pitch. Graham then reached on an error by Maylett while Troy advanced to third base. From there, Maylett settled in to strike out Montgomery and Moore while having Bowser line out to left field to end the bottom of the inning.
In the top of the 8th inning, Clarkson flied out to left field for the first out after which Mathews’ day on the mound was done. Brandt Pancer came in for relief. Pancer gave up a single to Kiernan after which Cop hit a homer to left field to bring in Karson Bodily, who was pinch running for Kiernan. Utah would not score any more runs the rest of the inning, but they at least had a 4-3 lead.
“Yeah, you know, he’s earned it,” Esquer said of allowing Mathews to pitch into the 8th. “He’s earned it. So he could have probably, we just went to match up, go with Pancer a little bit. Kiernan had been wearing us out and so, we went with that and two hitters later we’re down one. Doesn’t always work.”
“I actually don’t like having the extra day,” Mathews said when asked if the extra day of rest allowed him to go deeper into the game. “I’d prefer honestly kinda that five-six days where next week I’ll get to throw on short rest. So I enjoy that. For whatever reason the body just kinda likes the constantly throwing I would say. Sitting back, waiting to pitch, the body kinda gets out of rhythm, out of sync a little bit. So I don’t love having that extra day, actually. As some guys would, but for me, I’m good to go normally on six and even five if needed.
“I mean, I feel like I can always go deeper into a game. Pitch count for me isn’t really thing where I feel good in the 8th as I do in the 1st. So I mean, I’m always begging for one more hitter, even though I’m at like a 110 pitches and as I would say throwing on short rest next week. But, I’m always looking to go deeper into the game no matter if it’s seven and a third or five and a third. I always want another hitter because I think I’m good enough to always get the next guy out.”
The Utah lead would be short-lived as Rios hit a home run in the first at-bat for the Cardinal in the bottom of the 8th. This tied the game up 4-4. Stanford would not score the rest of the inning, making it a tie game going into the 9th inning.
“Just put together good at-bats,” Bowser said of the goal heading into the 9th. “Get to the next guy and don’t make the situation bigger than it needs to be.”
In the top of the 9th, Dowd came in to pitch for Pancer and was able to keep the Utes scoreless. Webster singled with one out and advanced to second on passed ball. However, Duffalo grounded out after which Frei struck out swinging with Webster on third base. Stanford had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 9th.
In the bottom of the 9th, Montgomery singled up the middle with one out. With two outs, Bowser homered to left center to give the Cardinal a 6-4 win. It got closer than they wanted, but the Cardinal found a way to pull it out in the end.
“I think it was a slider,” Bowser recalled of the pitch he saw. “Kinda went by really fast. So, I didn’t realize in the moment. I just kinda reacted. But, I think just in the moment our team is really good at just minimizing the situation. Not trying to do too much and eventually good things will happen…That was really exciting. I don’t think I’ve ever done that [hit a game winning home run] before. So, doing that and getting all of it and knowing it was pretty much gonna go, definitely a really special feeling…They [my teammates] loved it. This is a really just special place in my heart and their hearts and being able to experience that on my side and their side is just really a blessing.”
“Yeah, you know, like I said, the guys have been scuffling all day long to try to find a rhythm and he stays on a pitch,” Esquer said of Bowser’s home run. “He had a couple good at-bats, he had a couple hits earlier in the day I think, and so hopefully he’s starting to warm up because I know he’s been swinging the bat well in training and so I think he’s ready to get hot.”
For Stanford, this is a really nice win. They could have easily lost this one and instead they had the resolve to come out on top. Rios and Bowser both hit clutch home runs, something that this Cardinal team is used to doing.
“Yeah, we needed to,” Esquer said of pulling out the win. “We’re gonna be in tough games from here on out. So, we gotta get good at the hard ones. The easy ones, that’s not gonna be common for us. So we’re gonna play hard games and we need to be good at winning them and there’s an art and there’s a talent that if you’re good at winning that’s a good thing. And hopefully pulling this one out proves to our guys that we can do it.”
“Yeah, I mean, I kinda called it,” Mathews said of Bowser’s home run. “I said Malcolm, as long as Malcolm doesn’t hit into a double play we’re in a good spot with Bowser going up against a lefty. I mean, he’s faced me a lot and he hasn’t done that. He hasn’t had a pull side home run against me, but he’s hit quite a few homers off me. So, I wasn’t shocked when Bow made the big swing when we needed him to.”
As for Utah, this loss stings. They had a chance to jump out to a 1-0 series lead and could not hang on in the final two innings. They just have to hope to bounce back and even up this series.
“They’re gritty,” Bowser said of the Utes. “They got a few good arms and lots of ball in play and pretty decent defense. So, I think obviously it’s a great win today, but still got two more games this weekend that we need to take care of.”
On that note, game two will be on Sunday at 1:05 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and KZSU radio.
“Well, Matt Scott back out there and I think we got everybody who relieved will be ready to go,” Esquer said of Sunday. “You know, hopefully we’ve shaken off some of the rust of the game rust that we had which will be good.”
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