No. 10 Stanford baseball (33-13, 15-8 Pac-12) took on rival Cal (21-26, 12-14) and won the first two games of a three-part series at Cal this weekend. Both teams came in with something to prove, as Stanford had won 12 of its last 13 games, and Cal had a 10-game home winning streak.
Saturday’s victory came as a welcome present to sophomore Nico Hoerner, whose game-winning single in the 10th inning brought junior Matt Winaker home, allowing Hoerner to celebrate the 6-5 win along with his 20th birthday.
Fans saw the game tied for half of the day, 1-1 in the second, 2-2 from the third until the fifth and then 5-5 from the eighth until the winning run in the 10th. It was sophomore Brandon Wulff whose fourth home run of the year brought in three runs, bringing Stanford to a 5-2 lead that Cal slowly chipped away at.
Stanford has benefited from consistently strong pitching this season, and Saturday’s game was no different, with sophomore Kris Bubic pitching six innings, only allowing four hits and two runs while striking out seven. Junior Colton Hock replaced him for the final three innings, only allowing one run and striking out four.
The second game of the series saw Stanford holding Cal to the same score; only this time the Cardinal upped theirs, winning 8-5 for head coach Mark Marquess’ 2,500th career game. Despite an early 3-0 Cal lead in the first four innings, Stanford came from behind twice to tie 3-3 and then 5-5 before overtaking the Bears in the sixth.
It was junior Jesse Kuet who brought the Cardinal to tie 5-5 in the fifth, bringing freshman Maverick Handley home before scoring on a wild pitch. He was followed by Wulff, whose single allowed sophomore Duke Kinamon to score before Handley brought Wulff home with a double. Another wild pitch allowed sophomore Christian Molfetta to run home, bringing the Cardinal the last of their eight points.
Junior Andrew Summerville pitched a career-high 8.2 innings before being relieved by freshman Will Matthiessen. Summerville only allowed five runs and just one walk, and at one point in the seventh retired seven straight batters.
This win means Stanford has won 14 out of the last 15 games and brings the team to 30-0 when tied or leading after seven innings. It also marks the 17th consecutive game in which Winaker has reached base, a career-best and the longest streak of the season for Stanford.
The Cardinal will play at Santa Clara this Wednesday at 6 p.m. They will then return for the last home series of the season this weekend against Washington, which will begin on Friday, May 19th at 6pm.
Contact Ariana Rollins at arianar ‘at’ stanford.edu.