On Sunday, Stanford baseball fell to USC on The Farm by a final score of 11-8. USC junior righty Josh Blum (1-0) was the winning pitcher for the Trojans in a relief role while Stanford sophomore righty Toran O’Harran (0-1) was the losing pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role. USC improves to 6-13 overall and 3-3 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 9-9 overall and 3-3 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: USC at Stanford-Sunday, March 17th
“Well, we just gave them too much today, right?” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “They did a great job. Their running game really caused us problems and that’s unfortunate, but they exploited us on the base paths and then they just defensive, we didn’t make enough plays. Pitching staff gave them a little too much on a couple bunts and they blew a squeeze and we didn’t run it well and so those things were just too much to give away.”
Stanford sophomore righty Nick Dugan got the start on the mound for the Cardinal and got off to a solid start as he got three straight USC batters out in the top of 1st inning. One of the outs was a line out while the other two were ground outs. As for USC, redshirt sophomore righty Eric Hammond got the start on the mound and he too got three straight Cardinal batters out in the bottom of the 1st inning. He had a bit more variety in the way he got his three outs: fly out, ground out, and foul out.
In the top of the 2nd inning, USC failed to score, but they at least got a couple of guys on base. With two outs, Braden Dowd was walked after which Chris Brown singled up the middle to advance Dowd to second base. KaiKea Harrison then lined out to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Stanford would get on the scoreboard. With two outs, Brandon Larson was walked after which Temo Becerra hit a double down the left field line to bring home Larson after which Trevor Haskins doubled down the left field line as well to bring home Becerra. Owen Cobb then grounded out to end the bottom of the inning. Stanford was up 2-0.
In the top of the 3rd inning, Abbrie Covarrubias hit a single to third base for the Trojans. After that, nobody else got on base as Dugan forced two fly outs and then a foul out to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Stanford had the bases loaded with one out as Cort MacDonald and Malcolm Moore were both walked while Jimmy Nati was hit by a pitch. Ethan Hott flied out for the first out prior to the bases getting loaded. Once the bases were loaded, Hammond’s day on the mound was over as righty Jared Feikes came in for relief. Brady Reynolds then came to the plate and hit a fly out to right field to bring home MacDonald to make it 3-0. Larson then grounded out to end the bottom of the inning. Stanford had a chance to really blow the inning wide open, so to end up scoring only one run was a disappointment.
“We had a couple big at bats, right?” Esquer said. “I think we had a couple big at bats, bases loaded two outs and nothing to show for it. We had bases loaded one out and we got a sac fly and that was all to come from it. So, I think we may have had the bases loaded three times and one run to show for it and that’s on Sunday baseball you gotta put your knee on them a little bit when you get them down.”
In the top of the 4th inning, USC would even up the game at 3-3. With one out, Dean Carpentier was walked after which Dowd singled to right field to advance Carpentier to third base. Chris Brown then got hit by a pitch to advance Dowd to second base. Harrison then advanced to first base via fielder’s choice as Brown was out at second base while Dowd advanced to third base and Carpentier scored. Covarrubias then singled up the middle to advance Harrison to third base and bring Dowd home.
At this point, Dugan’s day was done as righty Trevor Moore came in to pitch for the Cardinal. Austin Overn then hit a double down the right field line to bring home Harrison and advance Covarrubias to third base. Jacob Galloway then fouled out to end the top of the inning. It was now tied 3-3.
“I thought they did a good job, they were prepared for him,” Esquer said of the way USC hit against Dugan. “He didn’t strike out. He struck out one guy today. He had one strike out. The two walks hurt him and a hit by pitch. He’s a guy that’s gotta be in the strike zone and so that was tough for him.”
In the bottom of the 4th inning, nobody scored for Stanford as only Haskins got on base by hitting a single up the middle. It remained tied 3-3 entering the 5th inning.
In the 5th inning, neither team scored nor was there a pitching a change. It was pretty uneventful. The only guy to get on base was Malcolm Moore for the Cardinal who was walked in the bottom of the 5th. Outside of that, nobody got on base. It remained tied 3-3 at the end of the inning.
In the top of the 6th inning, the only guy to get on base for the Trojans was Dowd. Outside of him, nobody got base. He was able to steal second base after hitting a single, but it didn’t matter.
In the bottom of the 6th, Stanford was able to add a couple of runs to expand their lead a bit. With one out, Becerra hit a single through the left side. This ended Feikes’ day on the mound as righty Xavier Martinez came in for relief. With two outs, Cobb hit a double down the left field line and advanced to third base on the throw while Becerra scored. MacDonald then hit a single to right field to bring home Cobb. Nobody else would score for the Cardinal as Nati popping up eventually ended the inning. It was a 5-3 lead for Stanford entering the 7th inning.
In the 7th and 8th innings, USC scored six runs combined as the Cardinal came unglued. After looking like the would win the series, Stanford ended up giving this one away.
In the top of the 7th, Overn singled to left field. With one out, Ryan Jackson hit a bunt that led to a run as Moore committed a throwing error to bring home Overn. This ended Moore’s day on the mound as Toran O’Harran came in for relief. Carson Wells then got hit by a pitch after which a throwing error at third base followed by a throwing error at catcher with Carpentier at the plate led to Wells advancing to second base and then third base on the throw while Jackson came home. USC did not score the rest of the inning, but it was now tied entering the bottom of the 7th.
In the bottom of the 7th, Stanford was not able to answer. This kept it a 5-5 game at the end of the 7th. USC now had some life. USC also made a pitching change in the bottom of the inning as Martinez was replaced on the mound by Josh Blum.
In the top of the 8th inning, things went from bad to worse for Stanford. Covarrubias doubled to left center with no outs, ending O’Harran’s day on the mound. Righty Kassius Thomas then came in for relief. Overn would go for a sacrifice bunt and advance to first base thanks to a throwing error at pitcher, which brought home Covarrubias. USC now led 6-5. Overn then stole second base and with one out, Jackson got hit by a pitch to get on base. This ended Thomas’ day on the mound as righty Ben Reimers came in hoping to get the Cardinal out of this jam.
Wells then hit a two-RBI triple down the right field line and after Carpentier struck out, Dowd hit a triple to right center to bring home Wells. Brown then flied out to end the top of the inning. It was now a 9-5 lead for USC.
In the bottom of the 8th, Stanford was unable to answer. It remained a 9-5 game entering the 9th inning.
In the top of the 9th inning, Reimers gave up a two-run homer to Galloway, giving USC an 11-5 lead. Righty Joey Volchko had to finish the inning on the mound for the Cardinal, not allowing any runs to keep it 11-5 entering the bottom of the 9th.
“It was just a rough outing for them,” Esquer said of the bullpen. “A bad day to have a bad day…I think that young pitching staff is, they’re getting better. But it’s gonna be a little uneven, right? And that’s what we get from some of the guys that they’re good on a certain and maybe not so good the next day. So, as we can get more consistent out of those guys, then that’s gonna be a big help for us.”
In the bottom of the 9th, Stanford was able to score three runs, but it wasn’t enough. Charlie Saum homered to left field to make it 11-6 with no outs. After that, Saborn Campbell hit a double down the left field line after which Gabe Springer went yard to right field to make it 11-8. From there, Blum would settle in and put the Cardinal away. 11-8 USC won the game and took the series deciding game after the Cardinal evened it up 1-1 on Saturday.
For USC, this is a big win for them. To win a series on the road is always huge. Especially since they came in really struggling. This series has to be a shot in the arm for them.
As for Stanford, this is extremely disappointing. To lose a series at home is rough. To lose a series at home to a team that is bad is brutal. Stanford should have taken two out of three this weekend and may I remind you, I picked Stanford to sweep. But when you commit four errors, you can’t expect to beat anybody.
“Yeah and again, two bunts, we make an error on two bunts,” Esquer lamented. “And then on the blown squeeze, we make two errors. So that essentially is too much for us to overcome and it was today.”
This series is just a reminder that this Stanford team is young and that while they are getting better, there’s going to be more growing pains for them to go through before they get back to the level that has become the standard for the program.
“Just improvement, right?” Esquer said of what he wants to see from his team. “Obviously we try to do the things we do well do them more often and the things we we’re not doing well just kinda clean them up. The defense a part of it and just executing when things that we’re prepared for show up. Like a blown squeeze. We’re prepared for that. We just didn’t execute it well and bunt defense, we practice that. We just didn’t execute it well.”
At this point, all that Stanford can do is move on from this and get ready for their next series. And on that note, up next for the Cardinal will be a home series against Creighton. Game one will be on Saturday at 2:05 PM PT. That will air on Stanford Live Stream and KZSU radio.
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