Baseball routs UC Davis for sixth straight win

Sophomore Nico Hoerner has already made his presence felt in the early season, helping to extend Stanford's six-game winning streak by going 3-5 while accounting for four of the Cardinal's eight runs on the night. (RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)
Sophomore Nico Hoerner has already made his presence felt in the early season, helping to extend Stanford's six-game winning streak by going 3-5 while accounting for four of the Cardinal's eight runs on the night. (RAHIM ULLAH/The Stanford Daily)
By Olivia Hummer
Feb. 28, 2017, 11:53 p.m.

Stanford baseball (6-2) jumped out to a hot start Tuesday night, taking a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against UC Davis (3-3) and never looking back. With this 8-2 win, the Cardinal claimed their sixth straight victory, as well as their 12th consecutive home win, dating back to last season.

For the fifth straight game, Stanford held its opponent to fewer than two runs, this time on the back of solid pitching from senior Brett Hanewich who struggled during his last trip to the mound, allowing three earned runs in just 1.1 innings. This time, the right-hander settled down, going 5.0 innings and allowing only two earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts to bring his record to 1-1 on the season.

Hanewich was relieved by freshman Will Matthiessen, who tossed 4.0 near-perfect innings to secure the Cardinal victory, allowing just two hits and one walk while earning four strikeouts.

Stanford stayed hot at the plate, with sophomore shortstop Nico Hoerner leading the charge. Hoerner went 3-for-5 with three runs and one RBI. Every player in the starting lineup recorded a hit, and the Cardinal racked up a season-high 15 hits as a team.

Although the Aggies were generally stifled by Stanford pitching, they were aggressive when they actually did reach base. Their three stolen bases heavily contributed to the two runs they were able to score, with leadoff man Alex Aguiar stealing two bases in the fifth inning before scoring on a single from teammate Ryan Anderson.

The Cardinal opened scoring early in the first inning. Hoerner doubled, and an error by UC Davis pitcher Chris Brown sent him home. A double by senior Alex Dunlap plated another run, and a single from junior Mikey Diekroeger pushed Stanford out to a 3-0 advantage. Two more Stanford batters scored in the bottom of the second to bring the lead to 5-0.

UC Davis claimed its first run in the top of the fourth, scoring on a wild pitch from Hanewich. The Aggies were able to tack on another run in the fifth inning as Hanewich worked himself out of a jam.

Stanford added some additional insurance runs in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings, while UC Davis found itself unable to catch any offensive spark.

Matthiessen was dealing when he took the mound for Stanford, going 1-2-3 in his first two innings. With two outs and two men on in the top of the ninth, Matthiessen fought his way out of a 1-2 hole to strike out the final batter and secure a Cardinal win.

Up next, the Cardinal will look to extend their win streak as they open a three-game series against Texas this Thursday at Sunken Diamond. First pitch is at 6 p.m., and the game will be streamed on GoStanford.com.

 

Contact Olivia Hummer at ohummer ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Olivia Hummer '17 is a managing editor of The Daily's sports section and writes about volleyball, football and baseball. When she's not filling in as an emergency copy editor, she can be found curled up in a ball bemoaning the misfortunes of her beloved Seattle Mariners or cursing the misuse of the Stanford Athletics logo. Olivia is a senior majoring in history from Covina, California, and can be reached at ohummer 'at' stanford.edu.

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