Cal Evens SeriesCal Evens Series
Bob Drebin / isiphotos.com
Baseball

Cal Evens Series

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 2 Stanford fell to California, 18-2, to set up a rubber match in the three-game series against California on Saturday at Evans Diamond.

"We took a pretty good punch today, but this wasn't a typical performance from us and I credit their offense for staying on top of us throughout," said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "It got away from us when we decided to save the front end of our bullpen for tomorrow, but this is the kind of adversity we need to learn to come back from. I've been in this conference for over 20 years. You can get a bloody lip from anyone in this league and Cal's performance today really proved that."

Stanford fell into a 15-0 hole after seven innings, allowing four runs in the first and third innings followed by a six-run sixth inning. Nick Oar and Austin Kretzschmar each had two hits off the bench, Christian Molfetta hit a pinch-hit home run in the ninth and Brandon Dieter retired all four batters he faced in his collegiate pitching debut.

In the first inning, Andrew Vaughn doubled to make it 1-0, eventually scoring on another double by Max Flower to make it 2-0. Darren Baker's double down the right-field line scored another two runs to push the lead to four.

The Cardinal (36-9-0, 18-5-0 Pac-12) went down in order in the first three frames before California plated another four runs in the bottom of the third. Sam Wezniak's two-run blast made it 6-0, chasing starting pitcher Will Matthiessen from the game, and the Golden Bears  (29-16-0, 14-9-0) plated another two runs off of Carson Rudd with a series of two-out singles. In 2.1 innings pitched, Matthiessen yielded six runs on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout.

Rudd pitched through a jam in the fourth for a scoreless inning before Tim Tawa's single broke up California starter Jared Horn's no-hit bid in the fifth with a one-out single. Rudd allowed a lead-off walk in the home half before Cody Jensen relieved him. Jensen limited the damage to one with California plating another run on a sacrifice fly, pushing the lead to 9-0.

The Cardinal went away quietly in the top of the sixth before Flower's two-run shot in the home half made it 11-0. California plated four more runs with two outs, capped by a two-run home run off the bat of Quentin Selma. Dieter replaced Jensen for his first career pitching appearance, getting the final out of the inning with a pop-out.

Christian Robinson and Oar started the seventh with a pair of pinch-hit singles but were both stranded in scoring position. In the home half, Kretzschmar (third base), Grant Burton (left field), who pinch-hit for Daschbach, Alec Wilson (right field) and Vincent Martinez (catcher) all entered or stayed in the game as defensive substitutions. Dieter started the inning with his first career strikeout, getting a line-out and a ground-out to Kretzschmar for a one-two-three inning.

Kretzschmar led off the eighth with a triple to centerfield and scored Stanford's first run on Nick Brueser's line-drive single up the middle, making it 15-1. Wilson drew a walk and Oar singled to load the bases with two outs, but Burton struck out swinging to end the inning and strand all three baserunners.

Ben Baggett took over to work the home half and the Golden Bears plated another three runs with a pair of home runs, a two-run shot followed by a solo homer to make it 18-1. In the top of the ninth, Molfetta's pinch-hit, solo home run made it 18-2 but the game ended on a four-six-three double play.

No. 2 Stanford wraps up the three-game series against California on Sunday at Noon on Pac-12 Networks with live statistics available at GoStanford.com.

Cardinal Notes

  • Molfetta's home run was the second of his career – he had not appeared in a game since March 7 due to injury.
  • Stanford has hit at least one homer in 16-of-17 games.
  • Tawa and Brueser were the only Cardinal to play all nine innings.
  • Baggett's appearance was the second of his career.
  • Matthiessen's start was his shortest of the season.
  • It was just the second road loss in Pac-12 play by the Cardinal.