Card dominates in second-to-last nonconference game
With the regular season swiftly coming to its conclusion, the Stanford baseball team played its penultimate nonconference game on Tuesday against Hawaii. The Cardinal pitching staff severely limited the Rainbow offense, and Stanford (28-20, 11-10 Pac-10) cruised to a 5-1 victory.
Though none of its regular starters pitched in the game, the trio of pitchers used by head coach Mark Marquess still proved to be fairly effective. Junior Danny Sandbrink started the game, giving up three hits and a run in 4.1 innings. Sandbrink also had two walks and one strikeout.
He was replaced in the fifth inning by sophomore Brian Busick, who recently moved back into the bullpen after being in the starting rotation for part of the season. Busick pitched 2.2 shutout innings before freshman Mark Appel took over in the seventh inning. Appel gave up two hits and no runs over the final two innings.
Busick was credited with the win, improving his record to 5-1 on the season.
Unlike the Cardinal, the Rainbows (26-24) struggled to find consistency on the mound. Hawaii used five pitchers in the game, none of whom lasted for more than two innings. While starter Josh Slaats found some success against Stanford, the three pitchers that followed him each gave up at least one run.
Harrison Kuroda had the toughest outing, giving up three runs on three hits in his 1.1 innings pitched. He was charged with the loss, his first decision of the season.
Like its pitching staff, the Hawaii lineup struggled to put together hits or find any kind of consistency. Despite getting six hits in the game, its only run came on a solo home run by catcher Kevin Fujii in the third inning. The blast gave Hawaii a 1-0 lead, but Stanford quickly erased it in the fourth inning.
Aside from Fujii, the top performer for the Rainbows was leadoff hitter and second baseman Kolten Wong, who went 2-4.
Stanford’s hitters did not have similar issues, as they scored runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings, including a three-run rally in the sixth off Kuroda.
Especially notable for the Cardinal was the use of freshmen at the top of the batting order. Marquess filled four out of the first five spots in the lineup with freshmen, the sole exception being junior second baseman Colin Walsh, who hit in the two-spot.
With its performance in this game, this group of players — right fielder Tyler Gaffney, first baseman Stephen Piscotty, third baseman Kenny Diekroeger and designated hitter Eric Smith — proved that Marquess’ faith in them was well-placed. The hitters went a combined 7-16 with two RBIs. The best performances came from Diekroeger and Smith — the third baseman went 3-4 with an RBI, while Smith went 2-4 with an RBI. Smith has driven in a run in three straight games after starting the season on the bench.
Diekroeger also extended his hitting streak, which now stands at 22 games. He started Stanford’s three-run rally in the sixth inning with a single to drive in Walsh from second base.
Having taken care of this nonconference opponent, Stanford’s attention will return to its conference schedule, which will resume on Friday in Tucson, Ariz. against Arizona (31-18, 10-11). The Cardinal is in a three-way tie for third place in the conference and will need a strong series to put itself into the Pac-10’s elite teams.
The first game against Arizona will begin at 5 p.m. PST.