As left-handed pitcher sophomore Andrew Summerville watched opponent St. Mary’s second baseman Zach Kirtley belt his 3-0 fastball out of the park, something must have turned a switch in his mind on the mound.
From that moment on, Summerville showed once again how he had amassed one of the only winning records on a Cardinal team that struggled last season. Recovering his freshman form in which he tied for the team-lead with four wins, Summerville went on a frenzy against the Gaels.
Summerville struck out 9 different batters and gave up only 2 hits in 7 innings pitched to propel the Cardinal (6-3) to a 9-1 victory and continue their hot start to the season.
Throughout different periods during the night, Summerville’s pitching looked like an impossible puzzle for the St. Mary’s batters who left the box dumbfounded. While Summerville gave up a home-run to begin the game, the left-handed pitcher’s fastball looked extra zippy for the rest of the night, and his off-speeds baffled batters.
Overall, Summerville dropped his ERA to 3.46 on a career-high 9 strikeouts.
“I knew that our arms were going to be pressed a little bit,” Summerville commented postgame. “I was just really happy to go out there and give my team 7 solid innings.”
Summerville’s dominant performance eventually paid its dividends when the Cardinal tied the score in the third inning and later took the lead through a five-run fifth inning that allowed the Cardinal to cruise to a comfortable victory. On the night, five different Cardinal players took turns hitting off the Gaels’ Drew Strotman, and the Cardinal combined for 6 runs on 6 hits on Saint Mary’s starter.
Junior shortstop Tommy Edman added his usual reliability to the Stanford offense, earning 2 hits while driving in 2 RBIs. After Edman earned his second RBI in the fifth, sophomore second baseman Mikey Diekroeger sent a ball whizzing down the first base line to bring in two more Cardinal batters, enough to widen the gap to five and put Stanford firmly in control down the stretch.
In the opponent’s dugout, Strotman started the game well against the Cardinal, holding Stanford to only one hit in the first four innings. However, as the game entered its later stages, neither Strotman or the Gael bullpen could quell the Stanford offense.
To augment the Cardinal’s lead, left fielder Quinn Brodey hit his first home run of the season with a very deep shot to right field in the eighth inning. Stanford ended up adding two more runs over the course of the eighth, extending its total to nine.
Overall, the Stanford team has enjoyed a fiery start to the season, earning a 6-3 record through its first nine games. With the win against St. Mary’s, the Cardinal move to 3-1 at Sunken Diamond ahead of the looming series against No. 2 Vanderbilt this upcoming weekend.
The Cardinal’s three-game series against Vanderbilt will start on Friday at Sunken Diamond with the first pitch at 5:30 p.m.
Contact Lorenzo Rosas at enzor9 ‘at’ stanford.edu.