Kenny Diekroeger homered, Lonnie Kauppila had three RBI and the Stanford offense showed signs of life as the Cardinal got a much-needed win Tuesday, a 10-3 victory at Santa Clara.
The Cardinal (17-12, 3-6 Pac-10) entered the game having lost five of six and had been struggling mightily at the plate, mustering just five total runs while being swept by Oregon State last weekend. Diekroeger wasted no time getting the Cardinal on the board, driving a three-run home run, his second of the season, over the left-field fence in the top of the first inning. He also tacked on an RBI triple later in the game. The sophomore shortstop, who is widely considered the de facto leader of the Stanford offense, entered the game with just two hits in his last 23 at-bats.
Santa Clara (14-19) got right back in the game in the bottom of the first on a two-out two-run home run by senior catcher Patrick Terry. The homer came off Stanford sophomore pitcher Dean McArdle, who got the start on Tuesday despite being Stanford’s Sunday starter all season, which may indicate that head coach Mark Marquess is considering shifting his rotation around. McArdle (5-2) failed to get get out of the third inning in each of last two starts. He went three innings yesterday, allowing just the two runs on two hits with three strikeouts to earn the win.
Redshirt junior Joe Supple took the loss for the Broncos. Supple went two innings and allowed four runs on three hits.
Stanford’s pitching got a boost yesterday as junior Brian Busick, one of the team’s top pitchers last season, made his season debut. Busick, who had been out with an undisclosed injury, went 1.2 shutout innings striking out two.
The Cardinal tacked on runs in the second and fourth innings and led 5-3 going into the eighth before scoring four runs—three of which were unearned—to put the game out of reach. With two outs, Kauppila singled home freshman right fielder Brian Guymon. Sophomore center fielder Jake Stewart then reached on an error by the Broncos’ freshman third baseman Kyle DeMerritt, extending the inning. Sophomore left fielder Tyler Gaffney and Diekroeger followed with back-to-back triples to stretch the Cardinal lead to 9-3.
Marquess also toyed with his lineup Tuesday to try and get an offensive burst. Guymon started in right field in place of Austin Wilson and Marquess gave sophomore Justin Ringo, seniors Ben Clowe and Dave Giuliani and freshman Danny Diekroeger shots at designated hitter. Guymon finished 1-for-4 while Ringo was 0-for-1, Clowe was 0-for-2, Giuliani had a sacrifice bunt in his only plate appearance and Danny Diekroeger, Kenny’s younger brother, singled in his lone at-bat.
The Cardinal pounded out 17 hits—a pleasant change from the team’s recent offensive futility—in the win. Kauppila and senior catcher Zach Jones led the offensive barrage with three hits apiece. The Cardinal will need to continue hitting if it wants to stop its five-game conference losing streak this weekend against No. 20 UCLA. The Bruins boast the nation’s top 1-2 pitching duo in Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer. Cole, with his high-90s fastball, is projected by many to be the top pick in next year’s Major League Baseball draft.
Because Sunday is Easter, Stanford’s upcoming series will be played Thursday-Saturday at Sunken Diamond.