No. 18 Stanford baseball (25-12, 9-7 Pac-12)  took the series opener against No. 13 Arizona (27-13, 9-10 Pac-12)  3-2 on a windy Thursday night. This win marks the Cardinal’s sixth consecutive success.

Sophomore Kris Bubic started pitching for the Cardinal, completing seven innings and surrendering only one earned run. Colton Hock came in relief in the eighth inning, earning his 10th save of the season and giving the Cardinal a hard-fought victory over Arizona.

Early on in the game, Arizona jumped to a lead, scoring in the first inning and again in the fourth, making the jump to a 2-0 lead. However, the Cardinal did not back down. Sophomore Brandon Wulff responded in the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo home run, closing the gap at 2-1.

Arizona had back-to-back singles in the fifth inning but was curbed thanks to an impressive defensive play by Stanford’s first baseman, junior Matt Winaker, who dug the ball out of the dirt to end the inning.

The Cardinal were determined to end the game in a feat and scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Wulff excelled again for the Cardinal, reaching base on a two-base error. Freshman Maverick Handley and Winaker followed with two doubles, giving the Cardinal a 3-2 lead.

The Cardinal left the bottom of the seventh with two runs, two hits, one error and two left on base. Hock then came in relief in the eighth and threw two shutout innings, securing Stanford’s home victory.

Stanford will face Arizona in the second game of the series at 7:00 p.m. on Friday at the Sunken Diamond.

Contact Cate Camara at ccamara2 ‘at’ stanford.edu.