SAN DIEGO – Playing single games against Grand Canyon and San Diego State, No. 7 Stanford (23-12) split two decisions on Saturday – dropping a 5-1 contest to Grand Canyon (27-14) before rebounding to beat San Diego State (11-29) 9-6.
Sophomore Drew Dowd pitched effectively in game one on Saturday, working into the seventh while holding a 1-0 lead. The left-hander allowed a leadoff single to Tyler Wilson in that inning before being replaced by Tommy O'Rourke.
With the pitching change, San Diego State elected to call to its bench, summoning Tayler Aguilar. The left-hand hitter connected on the first pitch he saw for his 10th homer of the year – a go-ahead shot that put the Lopes up 2-1. Josh Buckley, who finished the game 3 for 3, made it back-to-back homers on the very next pitch, hitting his first of the year out to left-center field.
Aguilar would tack on two more RBIs in the eighth inning, delivering a two-out single to run the tally to its eventual final of 5-1.
Having allowed the go-ahead runs over his one inning of work, O'Rourke was saddled with the loss and fell to 1-5 on the year.
Vince Reilly worked the final three scoreless innings for Grand Canyon, striking out four and holding Stanford to just two hits, to improve to 5-1 on the year.
Neither team was able to scratch a run across early in game two, but San Diego State broke the stalemate with a run in the bottom of the fifth off Cardinal starter Ty Uber.
The Cardinal responded immediately in the sixth, scoring six runs on five hits to take a 6-1 lead. A go-ahead two-RBI double from Braden Montgomery was followed by a two-RBI single from Kody Huff to highlight the six-run inning.
With the outpouring of run support, Uber was catapulted to victory after tossing five innings and allowing one run on three hits and two walks with two strikeouts. The victory moved the freshman to 2-1 on the season.
After SDSU scored it second run in the sixth, Stanford added one in the seventh and two more in the eighth to open up a 9-2 lead. The two eighth-inning runs came without the benefit of a hit as Stanford drew four walks and scored twice on wild pitches.
Refusing to surrender, the Aztecs took advantage of three Stanford wild pitches and benefitted from an RBI-triple from Xavier Carter, en route to scoring four times and cutting the deficit to 9-6.
With a three-run cushion, the Cardinal summoned Quinn Mathews from the bullpen to pitch the ninth. The left-hander walked the leadoff man, but a caught stealing and two strikeouts finished off the victory and locked in Mathews' third save of the year.
San Diego State starter TJ Fondtain was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts – dropping to 1-5 with the decision.
Stanford will conclude play in San Diego on Sunday, clashing once more with San Diego State at 1 p.m.