On Sunday, Stanford baseball defeated Cal State Fullerton 11-1, taking two out of three games in the weekend series at home. Stanford sophomore left-handed pitcher Drew Dowd picked up the win in his first start of the year while Cal State Fullerton sophomore right-handed pitcher Christian Rodriguez picked up the loss. Stanford improves to 2-1 overall while Cal State Fullerton falls to 1-2.
Through the first three innings, the game remained tied 0-0. However, Stanford showed more promise behind the plate out the gates than they had in the first two games of the series as left fielder Eddie Park singled to left field to open the 1st inning. Park would later get caught stealing, 2nd baseman Tommy Troy would then get walked and proceed to steal second base before center fielder Brock Jones would get walked and also get on base. However, Stanford would not score as catcher Kody Huff flew out to center field and 3rd baseman Drew Bowser flied out to right field. The 2nd and 3rd innings were less eventful for Stanford as they were not able to get any hits.
After Fullerton went three and out in the top of the 4th inning, Stanford finally started to get going on offense in the bottom of the 4th. Bowser got walked to lead things off and then 1st baseman Carter Graham doubled down the left field line to drive in Bowser, giving Stanford a 1-0 lead. Following freshman Braden Montgomery striking out, junior Brett Barrera, who was filling in as designated hitter for Vincent Martinez, tripled to right field, driving in Graham. Stanford was now up 2-0 and would take that lead into the top of the 5th inning after short stop Adam Crampton lined into a double play.
After a scoreless 5th inning, things came alive again in the 6th inning. For starters, Fullerton finally got on the scoreboard themselves in the top of the 6th. Center fielder Damone Hale got on base by hitting a double to left center. Hale would then advance to third base after 3rd baseman Zach Lew grounded out to second base. Right fielder Nate Nankil would then get hit by a pitch, advancing to first base. With catcher Austin Schell at bat, Dowd would throw a wild pitch that struck out Schell but resulted in Hale scoring.
It was at this point that Stanford head coach David Esquer decided to pull Dowd and put in junior right-handed pitcher Cody Jensen. Jensen would secure the out needed to end the inning, making it a 2-1 Stanford lead entering the bottom of the 6th inning.
To lead off the bottom of the 6th inning, Graham singled up the middle for Stanford. Then, Montgomery homered to left center field, making it a 4-1 Stanford lead. Stanford would not score the rest of the inning, taking a 4-1 lead into the top of the 7th inning.
Jensen would make easy work of Fullerton’s batters in the top of the 7th inning, getting three straight outs. Stanford entered the bottom of the 7th inning looking to expand their lead even further. In the bottom of the 7th, Stanford would score five runs, blowing the game wide open much like Fullerton did on Saturday. Huff and Bowser both singled to get on base and then Graham walked, loading up the bases.
With the bases loaded, Montgomery singled through the right side advancing Graham to second base and driving in Huff and Bowser. It was now a 6-1 lead for Stanford. Later, Crampton would single to right center, driving in Montgomery and Graham. It was now an 8-1 game. Crampton would steal second base while Park was at bat. Park would get walked and then Crampton advanced to third base courtesy of a wild pitch. Thanks to a subsequent throwing error by Fullerton, Crampton would score, making it a 9-1 lead for Stanford. Fullerton would stop the bleeding the rest of the inning, but at this point the damage had been done.
After holding Fullerton scoreless in the top of the 8th inning, Stanford would add on two more runs in the bottom of the 8th inning. Austin Kretzschmar would pinch hit for Drew Bowser and get walked. In the next at bat, Montgomery would homer to right field, making it an 11-1 Stanford lead.
In the top of the 9th inning, down 11-1, Fullerton needed a miracle of their own. As expected, they did not get the miracle they were hoping for as Ryan Bruno got three straight outs to end the game.
For Stanford, this win has to feel good because in the first two games of the series, they weren’t able to generate much offense, scoring just one run in Friday’s 1-0 win and scoring zero runs in Saturday’s 11-0 loss. To bounce back with an 11-1 victory sent a message.
The hero of this weekend is without a doubt Braden Montgomery. On Friday, he got the save as the closing pitcher and on Sunday he hit two home runs and six RBIs. Montgomery has an interesting role on this team, capable of helping out with his pitching and his bat. He has a lot on his plate, but so far seems to be doing a nice job of managing both roles.
“With every aspect of the game, I just have to see myself as a completely different player,” Montgomery said. “So it’s like, I’m really two different players. A pitcher versus a hitter. And so I just completely separate those sides of the game so neither affects the other in a negative way. And so I just kind of come out here, devote a certain amount of time to each of them and make sure to get my work in and make sure I’m ready when it’s time to step out there for the first pitch.”
Also, David Esquer hinted on Saturday, that some lineup changes could be coming and he followed through on that by inserting Montgomery into the lineup. That decision paid off handsomely as Montgomery gave Stanford the offensive boost that they were looking for.
“Maybe move a couple guys around,” Esquer said. “Hopefully somebody can give us a little spark. We haven’t had much in the first two games. So you’d like to stay with it a little bit to give some guy a little continuity to see what’s happening. But, there’s probably a couple spots we could move around and see if someone gives us a little lightning in a bottle.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game on Tuesday night against Santa Clara. Opening pitch will be at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area.
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker, click here.
