On Sunday, Stanford baseball defeated #16 Oregon by a final score of 10-7 to take two out of three games in their series. Stanford righty Trevor Moore (3-0) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while righty Toran O’Harran picked up his fifth save of the season. Oregon righty Kevin Seitter (4-2) was the losing pitcher for the Ducks in a starting role. Stanford improves to 17-20 overall and 9-9 in the Pac-12 while Oregon falls to 27-12 overall and 11-7 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Oregon at Stanford-Sunday, April 21st
“Yeah, you know, that team is battling for first place,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “And so it’s good wins for us for sure. We had to battle back all three games and kids showed a lot of resilience. I’m not sure we would have been capable of winning that game three or four weeks ago. We’ve been getting better. So, we’re improving.”
Stanford righty Nick Dugan got the start on the mound for the Cardinal and got off to a good start by pitching three straight scoreless innings. In the top of the 3rd, Oregon had the bases loaded with two outs, but Dugan got out of that jam by forcing Jacob Walsh to fly out to left field. On offense, Stanford would score one run in the bottom of the 2nd inning as Owen Cobb singled down the left field line to bring home Trevor Haskins with two outs. Cobb would then go for the double but was out at second to end the inning. Stanford would remain up 1-0 at the end of the 3rd inning.
“Yeah, he’s been great, man,” Esquer said of Cobb. “He’s been great. It’s one of those Owen Cobb days where he just finds a bunch of hits and kinda keys our offense with a top of the lineup. He either hits one or nine and he seems to do well at either one of those.”
Oregon would score five runs in the top of the 4th inning as Dugan was pulled in place of Moore, who had to get the final out. Dominic Hellman hit a solo home run to left center, Bryce Boettcher hit a two-run homer to center field, and Justin Cassella hit a two-run homer to left center. This gave Oregon a 5-1 lead entering the bottom of the 4th inning.
“I thought they took some good swings on Dugan,” Esquer said. “They hit a couple breaking balls out, which isn’t easy to do and I give them some credit for offensing early and warm Sunday afternoon, it’s pretty offensive.”
In the bottom of the 4th inning, Stanford responded fiercely with six runs. Charlie Saum hit a solo home run to center field, Cobb hit a double down the right field line to bring home Haskins, and then Malcolm Moore gave the Cardinal fans a taste of a grand salami sandwich to score four runs as he went yard over the right field fence. Stanford would lead 7-5 at the end of the 4th inning.
“The dugout has been great and our team leaders like Malcolm, they’re not gonna let the guys let up or give into the game at all,” Esquer said of his team’s resiliency. “So they’ve been keeping them on top of it even though we’ve been behind.”
“Yeah, I think it’s just finding our comfort,” Cobb added. “Finding our game at the college level and it’s a matter of experience and also just figuring out how we can compete together as a twenty-seven person unit…They always say hitting is contagious and you see a couple guys get it done and there’s no real explanation, it’s pretty uncanny how similar some of those games were, but I think we’re a team that is capable of putting together those big innings. We’ve got the bats and when we’re prepared and we have the right scouting reports like we do, it’s a simple thing and we’re able to hit.”
After Moore got three straight outs on the mound, Stanford would add a run in the bottom of the 5th inning as Cobb hit an RBI single to center field to bring home Saum and advance Haskins to second base. Stanford would lead 8-5 at the end of the 5th inning.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s just simplifying things,” Cobb said of the key to his hitting. “I think every season you have your ups and downs and it’s just making sure that you’re in control and keeping things simple.”
In the top of the 6th inning, Oregon added a run as Walsh hit an RBI double to make it an 8-6 game. And then in the bottom of the 6th, Jimmy Nati responded for the Cardinal with a homer to left center. This made it a 9-6 lead for the Cardinal.
In the top of the 7th, Oregon would put the pressure on the Cardinal again as Mason Nelville hit a solo homer to right field. This made it 9-7. Stanford would not score in the bottom of the 7th, keeping it a 9-7 game at the end of the 7th.
In the top of the 8th inning, Stanford made a pitching change as O’Harran came in for Moore. O’Harran would not allow any runs in the 8th or 9th inning, securing the victory for the Cardinal. Stanford would add a run in the bottom of the 8th as Nati flied out to center field to bring home Cobb. 10-7 would be the final score.
“Pitched great both games,” Esquer said of O’Harran. “Based on how he pitched on Friday, we were trying to get the game to him and the game was in the eighth inning for sure and he answered it for us.”
“It’s a Sunday, we know it’s gonna be a tough win,” O’Harran said. “They’ve seen pretty much all of our arms. They saw me on Friday and the biggest thing is you’ve just gotta compete. If you want it more, you’ll probably end up on top and I thought I went out there and just gave it everything I got and it went our way today…Staying calm is not really my thing. I mean, I pitch with a lot of emotion and I think every outing I’ve learned more and more that I’m best when I think I’m the best.
"So it’s just going out there believing in my stuff and filling it up and seeing what happens…The fastball for sure. It was mainly fastballs. The change up was working really well on Friday but didn’t really have it today. So, roll with my best pitch and they were going to have to beat me with it.”
For Stanford, this is a huge win. They took the series against a top-20 Oregon team that came in with a lot of momentum. Stanford was the better team on both Friday and Sunday. While I did pick Stanford to win the series, I have to admit I’m a little surprised they pulled this off. They do appear to have turned a corner, especially with respect to their hitting.
“I think settling in a little bit,” Esquer said of his team’s improvement. “Kinda just defining their game and some of the guys are starting to find their game some and stay a little bit more relaxed and in the moment. Runners in scoring position is probably the biggest challenge we’ve had. So, I think they’re getting a little more relaxed there. And Malcolm obviously coming through and some big swings take a lot of heat off of everybody.”
“Absolutely, it’s a huge win,” Cobb added. “Really quality opponent. They play everyone tough and just come out here and compete every day. We fell behind all three games and able to battle back. Huge growth for our team and hoping to carry that forward…We haven’t lost the identity that we are a top program and a top team capable of doing great things when we get our game going. So, we’ll carry that forward for sure.”
Up next for Stanford is a road game at Santa Clara on Tuesday, April 23rd. That will begin at 6:00 PM PT on ESPN+ and KZSU radio.
“The improvement is important, but the consistency is gonna be the next step,” Esquer said. “So, having games like this, it’s big and you’re capable of doing it, but consistently coming out and playing at this level of baseball is difficult to do and that’s gonna be the next hurdle for us.”
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