The Cardinal fell in a 1-0 loss against Santa Clara last night at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. Stanford left nine runners on base over the course of the game, including three with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Sophomore Chris Castellanos got the start for the Cardinal, and threw six scoreless innings, limiting the Broncos to 2 hits and 1 walk, while recording 3 strikeouts. Sophomore Tyler Thorne relieved Castellanos and allowed only 1 hit over three innings.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Cardinal stranded the winning run on third base. Junior Zach Hoffpauir led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single up the middle on a 0-1 pitch. Freshman Jesse Kuet failed to move Hoffpauir with an attempted sacrifice bunt popped up on the first base line for the first out of the inning. Freshman Matt Winaker reached base on a fielder choice, followed by an Alex Dunlap walk to load the bases. But two Cardinal strikeouts by Quinn Brodey and Jack Klein ended the inning and Stanford’s chance to close out the game.

After nine innings of a pitchers’ duel, freshman Colton Hock stepped on the mound for the Cardinal and gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, as Bronco junior Ryan Budnick hit a 2-1 pitch over the left field fence.

The Broncos entered the bottom of the 10th with a one-run lead and recorded 2 outs in 7 pitches. Tommy Edman kept the Cardinal alive, singling up the middle on a 0-1 count, but a strikeout by Hoffpauir ended the game, giving the Broncos the win on the night.

The Stanford team will head to southern California to take on the USC Trojans in a three-game series this weekend. The first pitch of Friday’s game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Erin Ashby at eashby ‘at’ stanford.edu.