On the heels of a five-game losing streak spanning the team’s 12-day final exam break, Stanford (10-11, 0-3 Pac-12) finally got back into the win column with a 7-3 win over San Diego (13-9).
“It was a good win for us against a good opponent,” said head coach Mark Marquess. “We had been struggling lately. Logan James did a great job for us and we got two big hits — one by Beau Branton and the three-run homer by Barr — and that was really the difference in the game for us.”
After the Cardinal had hit just a combined .179 against Arizona pitching over the weekend as the Wildcats claimed a Sunken Diamond sweep of the Farm boys, Stanford’s offense bounced back with some timely two-out hitting and notched eight hits to get back on track.
Branton’s two-out, two-run single in the second inning and Barr’s three-run shot in the fifth highlighted the day offensively for Stanford, while sophomore Tommy Edman, batting in his customary leadoff spot, knocked three base hits.
The single from Branton ensured that Stanford didn’t waste too many of its opportunities on the day — it had loaded the bases in the first before coming up empty, and was in position to do the same in the second before the freshman’s RBI knock. That tied the game at two apiece, and Barr’s jack later in the day on a hanging breaking ball sealed the deal.
The junior has certainly been seeing the ball well as of late — Barr batted .375 over the weekend and was the highlight among Stanford’s relatively quiet bats — and has raised his average to a healthy .278 after hitting just .172 in his first two seasons on the Farm.
“I’ve just tried to relax,” Barr said. “Simplify everything and not try to do too much. I’m not trying to hit home runs, I’m just trying to hit the ball hard and put together good at-bats and good things have been happening because of it.”
The seven runs from Stanford were the most that the team had put up since a 13-8 victory over San Jose State on March 3.
That offense was more than enough to support a gem from Logan James, who pitched four sparkling innings of relief on a season-high 60 pitches and struck out seven hitters to tie a career-high to earn the win. The southpaw scattered just two hits and two walks and limited the San Diego lineup in relief of Colton Hock, who lasted two innings and allowed two runs.
Joey Starling and Christopher Castellanos sealed the deal for Stanford and only allowed one run in the closing frame.
“This was a huge win for us,” Barr said. “Especially going down to play a good Arizona State team [next weekend]. To get on the right track was good for our offense, good to see some guys get hits. We needed that.”
The team will get to enjoy campus without classes, for a change, over spring break this week before heading down to Tempe to take on the Arizona State Sun Devils in a three-game set over the weekend.
Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dpark027 ‘at’ stanford.edu.