STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford (13-16, 6-6 Pac-12) led 7-2 after four innings, but allowed seven unanswered runs in a 9-7 loss to Washington State (17-13, 7-8 Pac-12) in 11 innings on Sunday from Sunken Diamond.
With the victory, Washington State avoided a sweep in the three-game series.
Stanford's offense came out strong on Sunday afternoon, plating a run in the first and two in each of the second, third and fourth innings, but the Cardinal was held off the board the rest of the way.
Malcolm Moore delivered the game's first run, plating Owen Cobb who had doubled to start the first inning before coming around to score on productive ground balls from Cort MacDonald and Moore.
Junior Trevor Haskins made it 2-0 Stanford with an RBI-single in the second before Cobb laced his second double in as many plate appearances down the line in left to bring home Temo Becerra and the game's third run.
After Washington State plated a pair of its own on a two-RBI single from Logan Johnstone in the top of the third, Stanford responded for two runs in the bottom of the third, utilizing an RBI-groundout from Luke Lavin before taking advantage of an error charged to third baseman Cole Cramer to run the tally to 5-2.
Cobb, who finished 4-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBIs to fall a triple shy of the cycle, connected for his sixth home run of the season in the fourth inning. The round-tripper, Cobb's second in as many games, extended the lead to what looked to be a comfortable 7-2 cushion.
Clawing to avoid the sweep, the Cougars mounted the comeback beginning with two runs in the fifth inning on a two-run shot from Johnstone.
Washington State inched closer in the sixth, scoring two more runs with two outs on a single into center field from Casen Taggart.
Now clinging to a one-run lead at 7-6 in the seventh, Stanford summoned Nick Dugan from the bullpen with the bases loaded and two outs. The right-hander struck out Max Hartman to end the threat and escape the jam.
Dugan would proceed to hang a zero in the eighth, and emerged from the dugout in the ninth to try to clinch the series sweep. After getting the first man to line out to Cobb at second base, Brady Reynolds committed a three-base error as he dropped a fly ball in right that allowed Cramer to scamper all the way to third as the game's tying run. Following a walk to Will Cresswell to put runners at the corners, Washington State put down a squeeze bunt to tie the game at 7-7.
Neither team managed to push a run across in the 10th, but Washington State seized the victory in the 11th, kickstarted by back-to-back doubles from Cramer and Cresswell. Hartman would tack on an insurance run with a single back up the middle and past the drawn-in infield, running the score to its eventual final of 9-7.
Stanford will return to action on Monday when it hosts Arizona in a nonconference clash at 12:05 p.m.
GAME NOTES:
- Cobb (4-for-6, 2 R, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBIs) managed his third four-hit game in the last six contests (3/30 at Utah & 4/2 at Texas Tech).
- MacDonald (2-for-6, R) has now hit safely in seven straight games and has reached in all but three contests this year - hitting safely in each of those games … has compiled 11 multi-hit games.
- Haskins (1-for-5, RBI) extended his hitting streak to eight games … he is batting 14-for-32 (.438) with eight runs scored, four doubles, a triple, two home runs and 10 RBIs over the streak.
- Dugan (4.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 5 K) was saddled with the loss and dropped to 3-3 on the season.