Baseball sweeps rival Golden Bears

No. 8 Stanford baseball (21-7, 10-2 Pac-12) swept the California Golden Bears (12-15, 3-12 Pac-12) over the weekend to tie No. 24 Arizona State (23-9, 10-2 Pac-12) for the lead within the Pac-12 standings. After dropping a street collection to USC (20-10-1, 9-3 Pac-12) in early March, the Cardinal have swept their final three Pac-12 opponents. However regardless of not with the ability to decide up a win, Cal was capable of make issues fascinating in a few video games. 

Throughout the first recreation of the collection, Stanford opened the proceedings with a five-run second inning, that includes house runs from junior catcher Alberto Rios, senior infielder Owen Cobb and junior first baseman Carter Graham. After the Golden Bears tallied a run within the fourth inning, the Cardinal drove in three extra runs within the sixth to blow the sport open. Nevertheless, Cal slowly however steadily climbed its means again into the sport. Scoring one run within the seventh and two runs within the eighth, the Golden Bears introduced in three extra runs within the ninth and appeared poised to take the lead with two males in scoring place with only one out. Fortunately for the Cardinal, junior pitcher Brandt Pancer was in a position to attract a double play that ended Cal’s comeback hopes and secured the primary win of the collection for Stanford.

The second recreation featured an offensive explosion from the Cardinal, as they had been capable of rating runs in a balanced method all through the entire recreation. After a scoreless first inning, Stanford drove in two runs throughout every of the second, third and fourth innings. Then, through the again half of the sport, the Cardinal tallied one and three runs within the sixth and eighth innings, respectively, earlier than exploding for eight runs within the high of the ninth. A number of hitters had massive days, most notably junior third baseman Drew Bowser with two house runs and Graham with 4 base hits. After dealing with an 18-2 deficit within the backside of the ninth, the Golden Bears had been capable of pad their stats with a collection of late runs, however they weren’t well timed sufficient to make a distinction within the recreation.

Within the collection finale, Stanford bumped into some bother late into the sport. After bringing house a run in each the primary and second innings, the Cardinal had been unable to tally any extra runs till the ninth inning. Within the meantime, Cal responded with a run within the backside of the second inning and two runs within the sixth inning. Dealing with a 3-2 deficit on the high of the ninth, Stanford had its again in opposition to the wall for the second time this collection. However with two males on base, two outs and dealing with a 2-2 depend, senior designated hitter Cole Hinkelman smacked the ball over the middle subject wall to present the Cardinal a 5-3 lead. After as soon as once more dealing with a ninth-inning jam, Brandt Pancer was capable of get a fly-out within the infield to finish the sport and provides Stanford a sweep over its arch-rival.

Up subsequent, the Cardinal will host Texas Tech (22-10, 4-5 Large 12) at Sunken Diamond for a midweek non-conference matchup earlier than heading as much as Eugene, Ore. for a weekend collection in opposition to the Oregon Geese (20-9, 7-5 Pac-12). The Crimson Raiders are a formidable opponent, slotting in at No. 22 in D1 baseball’s faculty baseball rankings. Furthermore, these groups have current historical past, with the Cardinal successful an excellent regional in Lubbock, Texas to succeed in the Faculty World Collection in 2021. If Stanford can take two video games from the Crimson Raiders, it’ll add to its push to host an excellent regional. First pitch in opposition to the Crimson Raiders is scheduled for six:05 p.m. PT on Monday.