Stanford baseball (12-18) snapped its four-game losing streak with an emphatic 7-2 win over Pacific (7-24) on its home portion of a home-and-home with the Tigers.
Freshmen Andrew Summerville and Keith Weisenberg actually combined to take a no-hitter in the ninth inning, which would have marked the program’s first no-no since 1998, before pinch hitter Justin Thaxton broke up the bid for history with a single through the right side.
Meanwhile, after the offense all but disappeared over the weekend and in Monday’s loss to Pacific, it came roaring back on Tuesday. A balanced offensive attack featured timely hitting, as the Cardinal were 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Summerville picked up the win in his first career start, retiring the first six batters he faced while eventually striking out five and allowing no hits in five innings of work. The freshman starting pitcher also went one-two-three in the fourth.
“I was just trying to fill up the strike zone and let the hitters put the ball in play,” Summerville said.
In both the third and fifth innings, he walked consecutive batters to start the frames but each time managed to escape unscathed. His first career start was “everything he dreamed it would be and not too startling.”
Stanford jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning off of a Zach Hoffpauir single — his first RBI since returning from injury — and never trailed the Tigers.
After taking a 3-0 lead in the third via a two-run single from first baseman Matt Winaker, the Cardinal broke the game wide open in the fourth and pushed three more runs across the plate. Center fielder Jack Klein’s sacrifice fly was followed by consecutive RBI singles from leadoff hitter Tommy Edman and shortstop Drew Jackson.
Catcher Bryce Carter’s first career home run in the sixth inning made the game 7-0, which marked the biggest Stanford lead before Pacific put on two runs in the ninth.
Stanford will begin a three-game series against Cal in Berkeley on Friday.
Contact Michael Woo at mtwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu.