On Friday, Stanford baseball picked up a 1-0 victory at #4 Oregon State in a game that went to 10 innings. Joey Dixon (2-1) was the winning pitcher for Stanford while Quinn Mathews (1) picked up the save. Reid Sebby (1-1) was awarded the loss for Oregon State.
As the score obviously indicates, this game was a real pitcher’s duel with neither team generating much offense. Stanford did not get a hit during the first three innings while Oregon State finally got a hit in the bottom of the 3rd inning with designated hitter Wade Meckler getting a single and getting to second base after right fielder Justin Boyd was walked.
Stanford finally got a hit in the top of the 4th inning thanks to Joe Lomuscio hitting a single, who was starting at left field. That was the opening at-bat of the inning, but Lomuscio would remain stranded at first base. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Oregon State catcher Tanner Smith hit a double with two outs, but he too was unable to be driven home.
Oregon State’s big opportunity to score came in the bottom of the 7th inning as Stanford starting pitcher Alex Williams got pulled and replaced by Tommy O’Rourke. Williams gave up a single to left fielder Greg Fuchs, who then advanced to second base after a sac bunt before getting to third base and actually made a play to come home after a single from short stop Kyle Dernedde, but was out at the plate. That was the second out of the inning. Meckler then hit a single to advance Dernedde to third, giving the Beavers another chance to score before Boyd struck out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 8th inning, Oregon State center fielder Jacob Melton got to third base with two outs, but Joey Dixon who was now on the mound for Stanford was able to secure the decisive out by striking out Fuchs. Stanford had a similar experience in the top of the 9th inning as Lomuscio got to third base with two outs after designated hitter Brett Barrera got walked. 3rd baseman Drew Bowser however would strike out to end the top of the inning. After Oregon State was unable to score in the bottom of the 9th, the game went to extra innings.
In the top of the 10th inning, that’s when Stanford finally got the score they needed. Catcher Kody Huff hit a double at which point Tommy Troy went in to pinch run for him. Afterwards, right fielder Braden Montgomery hit a double to drive in Troy. 1-0 Stanford lead. After Stanford was unable to add any more runs in the top of the 10th, it was now up to Quin Mathews to close the game out, which he would do with relative ease, securing two strikeouts and a fly out in the bottom of the 10th inning. 1-0 Stanford victory in the end.
For Stanford, this is obviously a huge win. Oregon State is a top five team and this was on the road. Stanford was looking to build momentum from sweeping Washington State and they did just that by picking up the win in this game. While the offense wasn’t the story, the pitching and defense was excellent. Stanford had zero errors in the game, which was crucial considering Oregon State also had zero errors. To pitch well and play clean baseball on defense has to feel good for this team considering those have been two weaknesses for them. Especially after the way Alex Williams struggled last week.
Stanford will now look to get a second win in Corvallis on Saturday when they take on Oregon State for game two of the three-game series. That game will begin at 3:30 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and KZSU radio.
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