Stanford baseball (11-18, 0-9 Pac-12) continued its deep skid as it fell in a 4-3 loss against Pacific last night in Stockton, California. The loss marked the team’s fourth straight after a weekend sweep at the hands of Washington.
The Cardinal stranded multiple runners on base throughout the game. After four scoreless innings, the Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth on two unearned runs. The Cardinal responded back in the top of the sixth when freshman Matt Winaker hit a two-out single up the middle to tie the score at two a piece.
Pacific’s Brett Sullivan helped the Tigers regain the lead by hitting a solo shot to right field off Stanford freshman reliever Quinn Brodey to put the Tigers up 3-2. Junior Gabe Cramer worked the Cardinal out of a bases-loaded jam to keep Pacific to three runs after seven, but a third unearned run in the bottom of the eighth put the Tigers up 4-2.
In the top of the ninth with two outs, the Cardinal put one more across the plate on a Beau Branton groundout, but the tying run remained stranded at second base as the Tigers closed out the game for the win.
Stanford’s hitting struggles continued, as the team was only able to muster three hits against a Pacific pitching staff that had an ERA of over five heading into the matchup. This performance comes after the Cardinal were limited to just two hits by Washington’s pitching staff on Saturday in the series finale against the Huskies.
The Cardinal will face Pacific again tomorrow at home in the second game of the teams’ home-and-home. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
Contact Erin Ashby at eashby ‘at’ stanford.edu.