In an extremely competitive midweek game against crosstown foe Santa Clara (18-20), Stanford baseball (19-16) couldn’t generate enough offensive success against a deep Broncos rotation, ultimately falling to Santa Clara 4-2 in the one-game series.
This marks the first one-game series between Santa Clara and Stanford in a season where both teams will visit each other’s stadiums only once. Despite being an out of conference game, both teams understood the Bay Area rivalry at hand and pitched extensive bullpens to decent success on the night.
The Stanford pitchers, however, ended up on the losing side of this intense pitching duel throughout the game. Even though Kris Bubic gave up the game-defining two-run single in the bottom of the fifth, starting pitcher John Hochstatter was credited with these runs after letting the runners on base. Ultimately, Hochstatter ended up with the loss as well, bringing him to 0-1 on the season.
In the other dugout, freshman right-hander Travis Howard took the mound to start for the Broncos, delivering a decent three-hit game in his four innings on the night. It was Broncos senior reliever Jacob Steffans who took home the win, however, earning his first victory of the season with his three-inning relief effort that managed to quell an inconsistent Stanford lineup.
Junior right fielder Quinn Brodey found his power swing once again for the Cardinal lineup, picking up his team-leading fifth home run ball on the season. Although Brodey owns a mere .261 batting average, his power and ability to drive in runs for the Cardinal offense has remained one of the only consistencies for this Cardinal lineup.
Unfortunately for the Cardinal, however, junior shortstop Tommy Edman couldn’t find his swing throughout the game, ultimately going 0-4 on the night and definitely part of the offensive drought throughout the nine innings. In order for the Stanford team to threaten its opposing pitchers, Edman must continue his offensive success for the Cardinal in upcoming, more vital conference matchups.
For Hochstatter, this loss marks his 6th appearance for the Cardinal since he recovered from last season’s traumatic Tommy John surgery that cut his senior year short. After Tuesday’s three-run game, Hochstatter has only pitched 13.1 innings on the season and currently owns a 4.72 ERA while giving up 10 runs.
For the Broncos, senior center fielder TC Florentine continued his leadership role in the Santa Clara lineup. In his usual cleanup role Tuesday night, Florentine went 2-4 and belted home the first run of the night with his first-inning double, scoring senior third basemen Kyle Cortopassi all the way from first.
The Cardinal, however, should not dwell on this out of conference loss for long, especially with a crucial road trip to Corvallis looming in the upcoming weekend. Stanford will take on No. 10 Oregon State in what could be the crucial opportunity for the Cardinal to prove their weight on a national level. Freshman ace Tristan Beck, who has earned a 2.19 ERA while going 4-4 on the season, should be the one taking the mound on Friday night for the Cardinal.
The three-game series will begin on Friday, April 29th in Corvallis, Oregon at 5:35 p.m.
Contact Lorenzo Rosas at enzor9 ‘at’ stanford.edu.