STANFORD, Calif. – Andrew Daschbach's home run in the seventh inning and another solid outing from Tristan Beck led No. 12 Stanford to a 6-2 win over Rice on Friday night at Sunken Diamond.
"Tonight was really a battle with their starter throwing really well. I thought Tristan did a great job keeping us in the game, and Andrew Daschbach's swing was just what we needed to wake up a bit," said Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "These are the close games we'll be in a lot, and it was on Tristan to keep us around with the bats starting a little slow."
With the score tied at 2-2 in the seventh, Daschbach launched one over the left field fence for his first career home run, putting the Cardinal (6-0) on top of the Owls (3-3), 3-2. The floodgates opened over the next two frames, with Stanford tacking on three more runs to make it 6-2 heading into the ninth.
Beck, making his second start of the season, battled through adversity to finish 5.0 innings with four hits, all of which were singles, seven strikeouts and two runs allowed. Daniel Bakst and Zach Grech each pitched a scoreless inning to set up Jack Little, who entered in the eighth inning with the Cardinal leading, 4-2. Little induced a game-ending double play, allowing just one base runner and striking out one in 2.0 innings of work.
Tim Tawa finished with two RBI, driving in Stanford's first run in the second with a triple and another in the eighth with a sacrifice fly. Nico Hoerner's season-opening hit streak also extended to six games, and Stanford's first five hitters in the order each had one hit.
"You also have to tip your cap to what Nico Hoerner does for this ball club, day in and day out. Nico made some huge plays in the field tonight, and they were at critical moments when we needed them most," added Esquer.
Stanford returns to Sunken Diamond tomorrow for Game 3 of the four-game series against Rice. Left-hander Kris Bubic (1-0) makes his second start of the season after earning the win in Stanford's 5-3 win over No. 17 Cal State Fullerton on Feb. 17. Live streaming and statistics will be available at GoStanford.com.
Cardinal Notes
- Brandon Wulff had one RBI, fiving him five on the season.
- Tawa leads the team with six RBI.
- Hoerner's 10 hits lead the team – he has at least one hit in each of Stanford's six contests.
- Combined, Little and Grech have yet to allow a run this season in a combined 10.1 innings of work.