Recap: #9 Stanford BSB wins Pac-12 home opener against Oregon State
On Friday, #9 Stanford baseball defeated Oregon State 9-8 in their Pac-12 home opener. Stanford junior left-handed pitcher Drew Dowd (1-1) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while junior left-handed pitcher Ryan Bruno (2) was awarded the save. Oregon State senior right-handed pitcher Trent Sellers (2-2) was the losing pitcher for the Beavers in a starting role. Stanford improves to 11-5 overall and 2-2 in the Pac-12 while Oregon State falls to 12-6 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Oregon State at Stanford-Friday, March 17th
Stanford senior left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews got the start on the mound for the Cardinal and got off to a strong start by getting three straight outs in the top of the 1st inning: Micah McDowell flied out to center field after which the next two batters (Travis Bazzana & Mason Guerra) both struck out. Bazzana struck out looking while Guerra struck out swinging.
“You know, I thought Quinn has, we were just talking about it, I think he had his best stuff all year to be honest with you,” Stanford pitching coach Thomas Eager said after the game about Mathews’ performance. “I thought the fastball had great life to it, he was moving it, and he was able to pitch up with it, and then I thought the change up really played up.
“And honestly, his slider is probably one of his best pitches he would normally throw to the left and right and I thought Oregon State did a hell of a job of being able to take that pitch away from us. They actually got a homer off of it and they kinda took that pitch away from us, but I think Quinn battled with what he had with that fastball and change, which his change is another plus pitch. So, I give Quinn credit and watching his stuff from the side, I literally thought it was some of the best stuff he’s had all year.”
In the bottom of the 1st, Sellers responded well for the Beavers as he too got three straight outs: Eddie Park lined out to center field, Tommy Troy flied out to center field, and Carter Graham popped up to second base.
In the top of the 2nd inning, Oregon State was able to get on the board. Garret Forrester reached first base on an infield error after which Ruben Cedillo struck out swinging. Mikey Kane then doubled to left field to advance Forrester to third base. After Gavin Turley struck out swinging, Tanner Smith singled to left field to bring home Forrester and advance Kane to third base. Kyle Dernedde then popped up to second base to end the top of the inning. 1-0 lead for the Beavers.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Braden Montgomery was the first batter for the Cardinal and he quickly tied things up by hitting a solo shot to center field, making it a 1-1 game. Nobody else would get on base for the Cardinal the rest of the inning, but they at least had found a way to answer and tie the game up.
In the top of the 3rd inning, Oregon State didn’t generate much offense as only McDowell got on base by getting walked. Mathews did a nice job of keeping the Beavers contained at the plate.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Owen Cobb hit a single to short stop with one out to get things going for Stanford. Park then singled to right field to advance Cobb to third base. Troy then singled up the middle to advance Park to third base and bring home Cobb. Graham then hit a single up the middle to advance Troy to second base and bring home Park. Montgomery would then draw a walk to load up the bases, but Malcom Moore lined into a double play to end the inning. 3-1 lead for the Cardinal.
In the top of the 4th inning, Oregon State was able to close the gap to one run as Cedillo hit a homer to left field with one out. That would be the only offense the Beavers would generate in the top of the inning, making it a 3-2 lead for the Cardinal entering the bottom of the 4th. In the bottom of the 4th, Stanford did not score as Drew Bowser (who was back in the lineup after missing two games), Alberto Rios, and Trevor Haskins failed to get on base. This kept it a 3-2 game at the end of the 4th.
In the top of the 5th, Oregon State would tie up the game. With one out, Dernedde was walked after which McDowell was walked. Bazzana then singled to left field to load up the bases. Guerra then doubled down the right field line to bring home Dernedde while McDowell was out at home plate. Forrester then popped up to second base to end the top of the inning. This made it a 3-3 game.
In the bottom of the 5th, Sellers made quick work of the Cardinal lineup as Cobb fouled out to the catcher, Park lined out to right center, and Troy grounded out to second base. The game remained tied 3-3 at the end of the 5th.
In the top of the 6th, Mathews got Cedillo out for the first out, but then Kane singled through the left side, ending Mathews’ day on the mound. At this point, Dowd came in and after walking Turley, settled down to get the next two batters out. This kept it a 3-3 game entering the bottom of the 6th.
“You know, the biggest thing is I think for him and he’s started before as a freshman for us in the COVID year, he started for us as a sophomore, and then kinda got pushed to the pen, started for us last year, we had to put him in the pen because we needed somebody back there,” Eager said when asked of Mathews’ adjustment to being the Friday night starter. “And I think the biggest message for him and we talked about it, when he was in the pen, he was going for strikeouts. It was, pitch count wasn’t even a thing. It’s like I’m gonna go make you guys look silly as much as possible.
“And then the transition for this year is like hey, you’re pitching on Friday, I gotta get you into the sixth, hopefully through the sixth. That’s usually the goal. And sometimes you’re gonna have to give up some strikeouts. You’re gonna have to allow some weak contact, you’re gonna have to give up some hits, and you’re gonna have to do some things so we can keep the pitch count down so I can allow you to get through the sixth inning and like last week against SC, we got through seven.”
In the bottom of the 6th, Stanford exploded for six runs. Graham would fly out to left field for the first out, but then Montgomery got hit by a pitch after which Moore singled to right field to advance Montgomery to second base. This ended Sellers’ day on the mound as Ben Ferrer came in to take his place. Bowser then singled to center field to load up the bases after which Rios and Haskins each hit a single to bring home a runner. This made it a 5-3 lead for the Cardinal.
After Cobb struck out swinging, Park homered to right field for a grand slam, his second home run of the season and of his career. This made it a 9-3 lead for the Cardinal. Troy then fouled out to first base to end the inning.
“Yeah, I mean, we had two outs right there, bases loaded, and honestly I was just doing whatever I could do to get Tommy Troy up right behind me,” Park said of his grand slam. “But, I got a good pitch to hit full count, he actually threw that same pitch 3-1. So, just reacted to it and ball went over the fence…Honestly, I’d say just letting it come to me [has been what I’ve been working on]. I feel like in years past, I’ve tried to hit homers or I’ve tried to hit the ball far, but it hasn’t really worked out for me. But this year just really trusting my practice, trusting my coaches, and just working at it the right way in practice so that it could show up in games.”
In the top of the 7th inning, after McDowell grounded out to 3rd base, Bazzana doubled to left field. This ended Dowd’s day on the mound for the Cardinal as Ty Uber came in to replace him. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, Uber walked two straight batters to load up the bases before giving up a grand slam home run to left field by Cedillo. It was now a 9-7 game. Uber’s day was then done as Brandt Pancer came in to replace him on the mound. Pancer would not give up any runs the rest of the inning as Kane flied out to left field while Turley struck out swinging.
“Yeah, I think right now we’re still trying to find the right roles for guys,” Eager said of how they’re navigating the bullpen. “And I think that’s the biggest thing for us is trying to put guys in situations where they’re able to succeed. And I thought today where we put Dowd in, I thought that was a good shot to put him, good chance based on who was coming up, I really liked the matchup with Uber versus Forrester and Guerra and unfortunately he walked the two guys and then hey kinda snowballed from there and he gave up the grand slam, but then you gotta give Pancer credit. He’s kinda been our anchor in that pen kinda throwing everywhere for us and he did a great job tonight coming in and probably asked a little too much from him. He was sick and he missed some practice. But he came in and got the outs that we needed and commanded two pitches for strikes.
“And then Ryan Bruno, we’re just trying to get him where he’s confident and trusting his stuff like he was at the end of last year and tonight was kind of a perfect point. Hey, we gotta bring you in, let’s see what you got, and you kinda saw a resemblance of what he did for us last year.”
In the bottom of the 7th inning, AJ Hutcheson came in to pitch for Ferrer and did not give up any runs. Things did get a bit dicey as Moore was hit by a pitch to advance Graham to second base, but Bowser then grounded into a double play to end the bottom of the inning. Still 9-7.
The 8th inning was uneventful as Pancer got three straight batters out for the Cardinal after which Hutcheson did the same for the Beavers. This kept it at a 9-7 game entering the 9th inning.
“That was the message I told Uber and the rest of our guys, our bullpen guys, I’m like look at Pancer,” Eager said. “He came in, pounding the zone and I don’t know if every pitch was right down the middle or to the side left or right, but it was hey, he put the hitter on their heels. And I said for Ty and Drew Dowd, I go we gotta be able to attack and put them on the heels and they gotta respect hopefully in the off speed pitch that you can throw for a strike and then that’ll give you a chance and you don’t have to be so fine and I thought maybe Ty was just trying to be a little too fine, wasn’t able to make the adjustment and get the slider up in the zone, and then when he got to full count, I think he, like any pitcher young, I’ve been there, too. It's like I just gotta throw this for a strike and he just kinda flicked it in and Cedillo smashed it. It was just kind of a hanging slider, flew right under his bat, and when you’re pitcher, you’re not having confidence throwing strikes, you tend to let up and the ball usually gets up. It pops and makes it real easy to hit.”
In the top of the 9th, Pancer gave up a solo homer to Guerra who jacked it to center field and into the shrubbery with one out. This ended Pancer’s day on the mound as Ryan Bruno came in to save the day. Bruno would then finish the job as he got the next two batters out via strike out (looking) and a deep fly out to center field by Cedillo that nearly cleared the fence. Fortunately for Bruno and the Cardinal, the ball didn’t feel like getting lost in the bushes. This made it a 9-8 victory for the Cardinal.
“Yeah, I think as a reliever in the back end of the bullpen, you always gotta come out really fiery,” Bruno said. “And I think in order for me to really excel in those situations, I gotta come out with a lot of fire and confidence. And I think that’s kinda the front that I put on when I go out there and so yeah, I’d say that’s the main thing that I had to make an adjustment to get to and I think that’s led us to some more success…The biggest thing for me as I said is being really confident out there. So, I executed a pitch where I wanted to and he put a decent swing on it, but I’m pretty happy to see that that was secured in the outfield…I think really confident with the fastball and a couple good changeups that I threw. But I think just dominating with those two pitches will be good enough.”
For Stanford, this is a big win. After the way things went at USC, to bounce back with a Friday night win over a good Oregon State team feels good. The pitching was a bit shaky, but the bats came through in the clutch and after getting up 9-3, it was going to take a lot for them to blow this game.
“It feels really good just to after a long hard fought game,” Bruno said of securing the save. “Both pitchers did pretty well, I’m really happy just to pad that win and get that secured on in the series and hopefully the team can we can get going a little bit faster tomorrow and be a really good story.”
“Yeah, definitely, I mean, Oregon State’s a really competitive team,” Park added. “And they’re just not gonna fold. So, but it was an all-around effort. Quinn gave us a good start, we had a lot of good at-bats early on where we tacked on a lot of singles, a lot of hard hit balls, and I would say it was just a collective win today.
“It felt great. This whole week we went back to work. We figured out what didn’t go well at USC, what went well at USC, and just really went to work this week so that we would be prepared for this weekend.”
As for Oregon State, this loss is disappointing because they had a shot to win this one. Were it not for Park’s grand slam, they would have won this game. All they can do is learn from this game and get ready for game two.
Up next for Stanford is game two of the series. That will be on Saturday at 5:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area and KZSU radio.
“I think as I said, just staying the course, just staying confident,” Bruno said of the key to winning on Saturday. “I think it’s been one of those years so far where we’ve really had to figure out our identity as a team and I think coming off a good run today, we’re really confident going into tomorrow, especially with the pitchers we got and our bullpen. I think that the hitters are pretty fiery and ready to go. I think we’ll click on all cylinders tomorrow.”
“Offensively I think what’s important, just keeping that train moving and getting the next guy up,” Park added. “I think it’s just doing what we do best and it’s just getting next guy up to the plate.”
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com