Stanford baseball (15-8, 4-2 Pac-12) continued to keep the bats hot and the fans on the edge of their seats as it came from behind in the top of the ninth on the way to an exciting 8-6 victory over the California Golden Bears (18-7, 7-2) on Tuesday evening. Although senior Johnny Locher’s ninth-inning, 2-out home run shot over the left field fence goes down in the books as the game-winner, it was an impressive team effort by the Cardinal that got the job done.
Going into Tuesday’s midweek game, Cal was rolling on a 7-game win-streak after having swept both Oregon and UCLA in the past two weekends. The Cardinal knew they would have their work cut out for them at Cal’s Evans Diamond, but after turning on the bats and making an impressive series comeback against the Trojans this weekend, the team came ready to compete.
Stanford senior John Hochstatter and Cal freshman Tanner Dodson started on the mound but each team would deploy a total of four pitchers in the offensive battle. It was a rough start for the Cardinal as the Bears nabbed two runs in the bottom of the first after a leadoff double by senior Devin Pearson, a single by junior Aaron Knapp and a Cardinal error. However, the team was persistent, chipping away at Cal’s lead to tie the game in the top of the third with a clutch RBI from sophomore Quinn Brodey.
An offensive battle raged for the rest of the game as the score went back and forth until the top of the ninth with Stanford down 5-6.
With sophomore Erik Martinez on the mound for Cal and the meat of the Stanford lineup up to bat, sophomore Matt Winaker doubled his way onto second base. He made it home on a timely 0-2 double up the middle by freshman Brandon Wulff, tying the game at 6 and making way for Locher’s 2-run no-doubter that took the cake as the Stanford’s hot offense stunned the Bears. Three of Locher’s last 6 hits have been home runs.
In an interview with the Pac-12 Network, Locher recalled that he went up to bat telling himself to, “stay short, up the middle, stay smooth and relaxed.”
The defense took this momentum into the last half of the frame behind its closer, sophomore Colton Hock. In a clean bottom of the ninth, Hock and the Cardinal defense shut down the 3, 4 and 5 hitters of the Cal lineup, clinching a solid win.
After an impressive showing against Cal, in which 9 players for Stanford contributed to a total of 15 hits on the night, the Cardinal should ride a wave of momentum into Southern California to go head-to-head with a struggling UCLA. Although the Bruins will be fighting to break out of their 6 game losing streak, Stanford’s offense hopes to stay hot.
The games against UCLA will air this Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
Contact Lauren Wegner at lwegner ‘at’ stanford.edu.