On Friday, #9 Stanford baseball fell to Washington on the road by a final score of 4-3. Stefan Raeth (5-4) was the winning pitcher for the Huskies while Joey Dixon (2-3) was awarded the loss for Stanford. Washington improves to 17-22 overall and 7-15 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 24-13 overall and 11-8 in the Pac-12.
The first team to strike in this game was Washington and they did so in the bottom of the 2nd inning. After Colby Wallace struck out in the first at-bat, Coby Morales hit a single to get on base. AJ Guerrero then got walked to advance Morales to second base. Michael Snyder then hit a single up the middle to bring home Morales and advance Guerrero to second base. The bases then got loaded as Josh Urps hit a single. McKay Barney would then strike out after which Cam Clayton popped up to center field to end the inning. 1-0 Washington lead as the Huskies were unable to take advantage of loading up the bases.
The next four innings were a true pitchers’ duel as Washington starter Jared Engman and Stanford starter Alex Williams kept it a 1-0 game through the end of the 6th inning. Both teams had opportunities to score, but neither was able to add any more runs to the scoreboard.
In the 7th inning, both teams made a pitching change though neither team scored in that inning, either. After Vincent Martinez hit a double down the left field line for Stanford, Washington pulled Engman and brought in Raeth, who wouldn’t allow any runs the rest of the inning. As for Stanford, they didn’t even wait for Williams to give up another hit. In the bottom of the 7th, they took out Williams and brought out Dixon at the very start. Dixon secured two ground outs and a line out to short stop to keep it a 1-0 game heading into the 8th inning.
Stanford would tie up the game 1-1 in the top of the 8th thanks to some luck. With two outs and Carter Graham and Brett Barrera both on first and second base, Kody Huff hit a ball into the outfield that should have been a routine out only for it to get lost in the lights. As a result, the ball plopped in the middle of the outfield and Graham scored while Barrera advanced to third. It was a ruled a double and RBI for Huff. Stanford wouldn’t add any more runs in the rest of the inning, but they were now tied up and in position to steal this game.
Washington struck back in the bottom of the 8th inning as Preston Viltz hit a single to center field to get things going. Cole Miller grounded out for the first out, but that advanced Viltz to second base. Urps would then get hit by a pitch after which a wild pitch from Dixon advanced him to second base while Viltz advanced to third. Thanks to a single to right field from Barney, both Viltz and Urps scored, making it a 3-1 Washington lead. It was at this point that Tommy O’Rourke came in for Dixon due to what may have been some confusion by the umpire as David Esquer appeared to signal for a substitution in the field and not on the mound.
With O’Rourke on the mound, Barney stole second base and advanced to third base courtesy of an error by Brock Jones in center field. O’Rourke would then throw a wild pitch to bring Barney home. Clayton would ground out to end the inning. 4-1 Washington lead going into the 9th inning.
In the top of the 9th inning, with Raeth still on the mound, things got interesting after Stanford got in a quick two out hole. Jones hit a solo home run to left center to make it a 4-2 game. Graham then hit a single after which Barrera was walked to put two men on base. Joe Lomuscio then came in to pinch run for Barrera after which Braden Montgomery hit a single through the left side to bring Graham home and advance Lomuscio to third base. 4-3. Unfortunately for Stanford, Huff would then pop up to center field to end the game. While it got closer than they would have liked at the end, Washington still walked out with the win.
For Washington this is a huge win. Stanford is a top ten team hoping to make a run to the College World Series. To get a win over a team like that is big. No other way to say it. Their pitching was fantastic and they got the hits they needed. Credit to them for making that happen.
As for Stanford, this is a pretty disappointing loss even though it is on the road. I thought they would get a sweep this weekend and to have dreams of a sweep dashed on Friday is not the way they wanted this weekend to go. On top of that, they wasted a wonderful outing from Alex Williams, who gave up just one run in six innings pitched. When he’s on like that, they have to secure the victory. At the same time, if Stanford can take two out of three, this weekend can still be a net positive. Especially if they win the next two games in dominating fashion.
Up next for Stanford is Saturday’s game. That will air at 2:05 PM PT on Washington Live Stream-2 and KZSU radio.
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