Stanford baseball (1-2, 0-0 ACC) began its season on Friday on a high note with a 10-7 win over Arizona (1-2, 0-0 Big 12) in the College Baseball Series in Surprise, Arizona.
With a 5-5 tied game heading into the sixth inning, Arizona issued three walks to the Cardinal, setting up loaded bases for junior designated hitter Brady Reynolds to hit a groundout RBI. Sophomore third baseman JJ Moran followed with a two-out, two-run RBI, bringing the score to 8-5. The inning ended with a two-run home run from junior catcher Luke Lavin for the fourth homerun of his career.
Arizona attempted a comeback in innings seven through nine but was only able to put up two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Senior pitcher Nick Dugan allowed four runs on six hits and one walk, while striking out four in his first 3 â…“ innings. He was relieved by sophomore pitcher Cohen Gomez, who allowed one run on two hits for 1.2 innings. Freshman pitchers Colt Peterson and Mike Erspamer threw zero runs on one hit, holding off the Wildcats to close out the game.
The win was a big one for Stanford, given Arizona’s success last season as Big 12 champions and competitors in the College World Series.
The rest of the weekend was less fortunate for the Cardinal, falling to Michigan (2-0, 0-0 Big Ten) on Saturday and Oregon State (2-1) on Sunday.
Stanford was trailing 7-2 heading into the ninth inning against Michigan. In one last attempt at a comeback, sophomore first baseman Rintaro Sasaki fought off a full count and walked to first, and Moran followed with a single to left field on the next at-bat. Senior center fielder Ethan Hott hit a two-run RBI triple to left field in what looked like a turning point for the Cardinal.
Freshman left fielder Brock Sell followed up with an RBI to shortstop on an error, bringing the score to 7-5. Sophomore shortstop Charlie Bates shot a single into left field to bring in Sell, but the rest of the lineup was unable to put any more runs on the board, ending the game at 7-6
The Cardinal went into Sunday’s game against Oregon State 1-1, but they were only able to put up two runs in the top of the fourth inning, falling to the Beavers 3-2.
Stanford baseball continues the action on Monday in Scottsdale, Arizona, where it faces 2025 Big Ten champion Nebraska (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten).