On Sunday, #9 Stanford baseball fell to Washington 11-10 to lose their weekend road series 2-1. Ryan Velazquez (1-0) was the winning pitcher for Washington while Ryan Bruno (3-1) was awarded the loss for Stanford. Washington improves to 18-23 overall and 8-16 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 25-14 overall and 12-9 in the Pac-12.
Neither team would score in the 1st inning despite both getting guys on base. In the top of the inning, Brett Barrera hit a single for Stanford with two outs, but wasn’t brought home. In the bottom of the inning, Cam Clayton was walked with one out before stealing second base. Thanks to Coby Morales lining out to right field, Clayton would advance to third base with two outs. Unfortunately for the Huskies, Will Simpson struck out swinging in the next at-bat for the final out of the inning.
In the 2nd inning, both teams would find a way to get on the board. In the top of the inning, with Drew Bowser on base and one out, Eddie Park would reach first base on a fielder’s choice as Bowser was out at second base for the second out. Tommy Troy would then hit a single to advance Park to third. During Adam Crampton’s at-bat, Troy would get caught stealing for the third out while Park came home to make it a 1-0 Stanford lead. Stanford caught a bit of a break to get that run.
In the bottom of the inning, A.J. Guerrero hit a solo home run down the left field line. The only other hit Washington got the rest of the inning was a double from Cole Miller. At the end of the 2nd inning, it was a 1-1 game.
In the top of the 3rd inning, the bats came alive for Stanford. Crampton hit a single to center field after which Brock Jones hit a homer to center field. Carter Graham then followed up with a home run to left center. 4-1 Stanford lead. Barrera then doubled to right center after which Washington pulled their starting pitcher Josh Emanuels and put in Adam Bloebaum. Braden Montgomery would then foul out to first base after which Kody Huff doubled to center field to bring Barrera home. Huff would then advance to third base on a wild pitch before Bloebaum regained his composure and got both Bowser and Park out to end the top of the inning. 5-1 Stanford lead. In the bottom of the 3rd, Mathews retired all three Washington batters with little trouble as nobody got on base. Smooth sailing for the Cardinal up to this point.
In the top of the 4th inning, Stanford’s bats continued to heat up. Troy hit a single to shortstop and advanced to second base after Crampton grounded out to short stop. Jones then singled to right field to bring Troy home after which Graham hit a double down the right field line to advance Jones to third base. It was at this point that Washington pulled Bloebaum off the mound and brought in Stu Flesland III.
In the next at-bat, Barrera would advance to first base on a fielder’s choice as Graham was out at second base while Jones came home. Montgomery then flied out to right field to end the inning. 7-1 Stanford lead.
In the bottom of the 4th, Washington responded as Simpson got things going with a double to right center in the opening at-bat. Guerrero then hit a single to left field to bring Simpson home after which Johnny Tincher doubled down the left field line to bring Guerrero home. That would be the only runs the Huskies scored in the inning, but it was now a 7-3 game.
In next two innings, neither team would score as the game remained a 7-3 affair going into the 7th inning. Mathews remained on the mound for Stanford in the 5th and 6th innings while Stefan Raeth replaced Flesland III for Washington in the top of the 5th.
The top of the 7th inning was quiet for Stanford as Barrera, Montgomery, and Huff all failed to get on base. As for the bottom of the 7th, it was anything but quiet for Washington. Ty Uber came in to replace Mathews on the mound and immediately gave up a two run home run to Josh Urps after Miller got on base via a throwing error. It was now a 7-5 game. McKay Barney was then walked by Uber after which Stanford made another pitching change, bringing in Joey Dixon.
With Dixon now on the mound, Clayton hit a single to center field to advance Barney to second base. Morales would then strike out swinging for the first out. Simpson then singled through the left side to advance Clayton to second base and bring Barney home. Guerrero then followed that up with a single down the right field line to advance Simpson to third base and bring home Clayton. Tincher then singled to advance Guerrero to second base and bring Simpson home. Washington was now up 8-7 as Dixon was pulled off the mound and replaced with Nathan Fleischli. Fleischli would end up getting the job done to not allow any more runs, though things got a little hairy for him as Bowser made a throw to Huff to get Guerrero out at home plate. That was an absolutely crucial play to keep it a one run game.
To Stanford’s credit, they went back to work in the top of the 8th inning. Bowser hit a single and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Park then hit a triple to bring Bowser home after which a single from Troy brought Park home. 9-8 Stanford lead. Crampton would then get out at first base, advancing Troy to second. Jones then got intentionally walked. Graham would then single up the middle to bring Troy home and advance Jones to second base. Barrera then grounded into a double play to end the top of the 8th. 10-8 Stanford lead. After giving up their lead in the bottom of the 7th, Stanford was back in front with a two run cushion. Simply incredible. Fleischli would hold Washington scoreless in the bottom of the 8th inning. All Stanford needed to do was hang on in the 9th inning.
After going scoreless in the top of the 9th, Stanford led 10-8 going into the bottom of the 9th. It was up to the bullpen to finish the job. Unfortunately for Stanford, the bullpen completely came unglued and ended up costing them the game. Simpson singled to left field off Fleischli after which Fleischli came out and was replaced by Ryan Bruno. Dalton Chandler also came in to pinch run for Simpson. After Bruno struck out Guerrero, Tincher was walked to advance Chandler to second base. Jarred Mazzaferro then came in to pinch run for Tincher. Snyder then was walked to load up the bases. It was at this point that Bruno was done as Tommy O’Rourke came in to replace him on the mound. Ben Smith also came in to pinch run for Snyder while Colby Wallace came in to pinch hit for Preston Viltz.
O’Rourke then gave up a single to Wallace to bring home Chandler to make it a 10-9 game. In the next at-bat, O’Rourke hit Urps to bring home Mazzaferro. 10-10 game. Then, O’Rourke threw a wild pitch to bring home Smith. Ball game. 11-10 Washington win.
For Washington, this is a huge win for them. To win a series against a top ten team is big-time. It’s been a rough year for them and they have to take some confidence after the way this weekend went.
As for Stanford, this loss really stings. I picked them to get a road sweep and so for them to actually lose the series is beyond disappointing. The bullpen has been their Achilles heel all season long and it reared its ugly head again today as it basically did them in twice. At this point, all Stanford can do is shake this off and bounce back at home this upcoming week where they’ll face Cal in a three-game series.
Before facing Cal, they’ll host UC Davis on Tuesday. That game will begin at 6:05 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and KZSU radio.
Across the diamond: Stanford softball also played at Washington this weekend and got swept, losing all three games 5-0, 2-0, and 3-1. Stanford came in ranked #21 while Washington came in ranked #11/10. This wasn’t as bad of a weekend for them given that the Washington team they faced is a top ten level team. Stanford softball currently sits at 32-16 overall and 8-10 in the Pac-12. They’ll return to action on Wednesday at St. Mary’s before hosting the Oregon Ducks for a home series over the weekend.
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