On Sunday, #12 Stanford baseball defeated San Diego State 6-4 on the road to complete their San Diego road trip. Stanford improves to 24-12 overall (11-7 Pac-12) while San Diego State falls to 11-30 overall (4-14 Mountain West). Ryan Bruno (3-0, 2.95 ERA) was the winning pitcher for Stanford while Jonny Guzman (1-3, 3.81 ERA) was awarded the loss for San Diego State.
Stanford got off to a great start in this game, scoring two runs in the top of the 1st inning. Brock Jones hit a single in the first at-bat before stealing second base and advancing to third base courtesy of a throwing error during Carter Graham’s at-bat. Graham would conclude his at-bat by hitting a home run to make it a 2-0 Stanford lead, so Jones ended up not needing those extra bases. Stanford wouldn’t add any more runs in the rest of the inning, but they were in good shape early.
After Quinn Mathews silenced San Diego State’s lineup in the bottom of the first inning, Stanford went back to work in the top of the 2nd inning. With one out, Tommy Troy would get walked and then advance to second base thanks to a wild pitch. With two outs, Troy would advance to third base on a wild pitch before being driven home by a triple from Adam Crampton. Crampton would not be able to come home, but it was now a 3-0 Stanford lead. Mathews got one strike out and two ground outs in the bottom of the 2nd inning to keep the Aztecs’ batters in check.
In the top of the 3rd inning, Stanford’s offense cooled down. Graham flied out to left center before Brett Barrera grounded out for the second out. Braden Montgomery would get hit by a pitch and advance to second base on a wild pitch after which Kody Huff was walked. However, Stanford wouldn’t capitalize as Drew Bowser flied out to right field to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 3rd, San Diego State responded by scoring one run. After Tino Bethancourt flied out to center field for the first out, Caden Miller was walked before eventually advancing to third base courtesy of a single from Shaun Montoya. Mathews would then get called for a balk during Poncho Ruiz’ at-bat, to bring Miller home and advance Montoya to second base. It was now a 3-1 Stanford lead. San Diego State didn’t add any more runs the rest of the inning, but they were now on the board.
In the top of the 4th inning, Troy hit a single to center field before advancing to second base thanks to Eddie Park grounding out. Crampton then hit a single to center field and advanced to second base on the throw to bring in Troy, who advanced to third and came home thanks to a throwing error. It was now a 4-1 Stanford lead. Jones flied out and Graham struck out to end the top of the inning. In the bottom of the 4th inning, Mathews gave up a couple of singles, but secured three strike outs to prevent any runs from being scored.
The top of the 5th inning was quiet for Stanford as they weren’t able to get any runs on the board. Barrera hit a single but would be out at second as Montgomery advanced to first base via fielder’s choice. Barrera would then be out at second base while Huff grounded out to second base. In the bottom of the 5th inning, Irvin Weems doubled down the right field line before advancing to third thanks to Montoya grounding out. A single from Ruiz brought Weems home after which a double from Cole Carrigg brought Ruiz home. 4-3 game. After Ruiz scored, Stanford head coach David Esquer pulled Mathews off the mound and brought in Tommy O’Rourke, who was able to finish out the inning without giving up any hits.
In the top of the 6th inning, San Diego State made a pitching change of their own, taking out their starter Chris Canada and bringing in Ricky Tibbett. That move worked well as Tibbett didn’t give up any runs in the top of the 6th or 7th innings. O’Rourke in turn didn’t allow any runs in the bottom of the 6th, though that didn’t hold for him in the bottom of the 7th. Ruiz would hit a single off O’Rourke before stealing second base to get in scoring position. Carrigg then hit a single to center field to bring Ruiz home. 4-4 game. It was now tied.
At this point, Stanford made a pitching change taking out O’Rourke and bringing in Cody Jensen. Jensen’s stint was short lived as he walked the only two batters he faced, forcing Ryan Bruno to come in to save the day. Bruno was able to force a double play to end the inning and preserve the 4-4 tie. Clutch pitching from him in that moment.
After neither team scored in the 8th inning, the game was still tied 4-4 going into the 9th inning. Park got things going with a single through the right side and with two outs, Graham was walked to put a little bit of pressure on San Diego State. The Aztecs transitioned from having Jonny Guzman on the mound in the 8th inning and early 9th to Kelena Sauer, who came in with one out in the 9th after Crampton grounded out to advance Park to second base before Graham was walked.
After Graham was walked, Barrera hit a triple to bring Graham and Park home. 6-4 Stanford lead. The Cardinal didn’t add any more runs in the top of the 9th, but now they at least had a lead with just one half inning to go. If Bruno could secure three outs and not give up any runs, the game was theirs.
In the end, that’s exactly what Bruno did. He secured two strikeouts and one ground out to win the game. It was closer than Stanford would have liked, but at least they won. This is one of those games where you just be happy you won and move on.
What makes this win big for Stanford is that it means they took three out of four games this weekend in San Diego. They got the split against Grand Canyon and swept San Diego State, which is exactly what they were supposed to do. While things got a little bit shaky at times, the end result is what they wanted and that has to make them feel good. The pitching got the job done and the hitting was clutch when it needed to be. That’s all that matters.
Up next for Stanford will be a road trip to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies. The first game will be on Friday at 6:05 PM PT.
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