No. 4 Stanford baseball (33-14, 18-9 Pac-12) dominated the Santa Clara Broncos (24-25, 11-16 WCC) 19-0 in a midweek matchup on Tuesday. The Cardinal lineup put together an impressive display of power hitting, as five different players hit home runs in the game.
Stanford got off to a hot offensive start, scoring five runs in the opening inning. First, junior DH Brett Barrera hit a single to score junior outfielder Brock Jones. Later, with the bases loaded, sophomore third baseman Drew Bowser hit a grand slam to plate four runs and extend the Cardinal’s lead to 5-0.
In the second, Barrera hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Jones for the second time in the game. Then, sophomore first baseman Carter Graham hit a single down the line in the third inning to score sophomore second baseman Tommy Troy from third base.
The fourth inning featured another long rally from Stanford.
Do-it-all freshman outfielder Braden Montgomery and junior catcher Kody Huff hit back-to-back solo home runs to lead off the inning. Later, junior shortstop Adam Crampton grounded into a fielder’s choice that brought home Bowser from third. Finally, to cap off the inning, Jones hit a two-run shot to extend Stanford’s lead to 12-0.
After two scoreless innings from both teams, the Cardinal posted a seven-run seventh inning. To start the run, Bowser hit a sacrifice fly to score Montgomery from third base. Then, senior outfielder Joe Lomuscio, who came in during the inning to pinch hit for Jones, hit a single to score sophomore left fielder Eddie Park and Troy.
Infielder Trevor Haskins, who pinch hit for Carter Graham in the seventh inning, doubled to score Crampton from second base. Next, Barrera hit a three-run home run to give Stanford a whopping 19 total runs. These would be the last runs scored in the game, and Stanford came out with a 19-0 win.
While the bats stole the show for most of the game, the Stanford pitching staff also shut down the Broncos. The Cardinal rolled out six pitchers to get through the game, and the longest any pitcher stayed on the mound was two innings. Combined, the Stanford pitchers gave up just three hits and three walks. Sophomore Tommy O’ Rourke started the game and received the win.
Looking ahead, Stanford will play the USC Trojans (24-25, 8-19 Pac-12) in a weekend series at Sunken Diamond from Thursday through Saturday. This will be Stanford’s last weekend series before the team heads to Scottsdale, Ariz. for the Pac-12 Tournament. The Cardinal are just one game behind No. 2 Oregon State (40-11, 19-8 Pac-12) for first place in the Pac-12 regular season standings.
Stanford will have a good chance at tying or winning the Pac-12 regular season championship outright if they sweep the Trojans, since Oregon State will face a very strong No. 23 UCLA (33-19, 17-10 Pac-12) team. First pitch against USC in game one is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT on Thursday.