SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Playing in the semifinal round of the 2024 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament on Friday night, Stanford (22-33) saw its season come to an end at the hands of No. 18 Arizona (35-21) following a 6-3 loss.
Playing with its season on the line, the Cardinal never quit on Friday night, scoring single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings while bringing the tying run to the plate in the final frame.
Arizona's Clark Candiotti was outstanding in the victory, tossing seven innings and allowing one run on four hits with no walks while striking out 11. Candiotti earned the victory and moved to 7-3 on the season.
Sophomore Matt Scott was saddled with the loss and fell to 4-10 after allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits with two strikeouts over four innings. Sophomore Nick Dugan pitched effectively out of the bullpen, contributing three shutout innings while allowing just three hits.
Stanford had an opportunity to get to Candiotti in the first inning as Jimmy Nati singled and moved to third on a two-out double from Malcolm Moore. Charlie Saum followed with a hit-by-pitch to load the bases, but Ethan Hott flew out to end the threat.
Still scoreless headed to the bottom of the third, Arizona took advantage of a few mistakes defensively from the Cardinal en route to plating three runs. A fly ball lost in flight fell for a triple to start the frame before a lineout to shortstop put the first out on the board. Playing the infield in, Scott induced a ground ball to shortstop, but Trevor Haskins' throw to first after looking the runner back to third was in the dirt and allowed Brandon Rogers to reach. Brendan Summerhill took advantage of the extra outs, lacing a three-run homer off the foul pole in right field to make it 3-0 Arizona.
Arizona would tack on one run in the fourth and two more in the sixth to make it 6-0 after six innings.
The Cardinal managed to plate a run in the seventh and eighth innings on productive ground balls, but Arizona limited the damage to just the one tally in each frame. Refusing to surrender and down to its final out in the ninth, Stanford got a walk from Brandon Larson before a wild pitch from reliever Casey Hintz and a single from Jake Sapien kept the line moving. Owen Cobb shot an RBI-single into right field to cut the deficit to 6-3 and bring the tying run to the plate, but Cort MacDonald grounded a ball to shortstop that was flipped to second to end the game.
With the loss, Stanford went winless in five contests against Arizona this season. Friday night's game was the final contest for Stanford baseball in the Pac-12 Conference as the Cardinal prepares to play the 2025 season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Of note, with Saturday night's championship game set to air on the ESPN family of networks, Friday's game was also the final broadcast production from Pac-12 Networks.
Following the conclusion of tournament play, Malcolm Moore was named to the Pac-12 Baseball All-Tournament team. Over three games played, Moore hit .400 (4-for-10) with four runs scored, a double, three homers and four RBIs. He also drew two walks and a hit-by-pitch to finish with a .538 on-base percentage and 1.400 slugging percentage.
The native of Sacramento, Calif. launched a pair of homers in the top of the fourth inning in an 8-7 victory over Arizona State to open the tournament before breaking a scoreless game with a solo shot in the fourth against No. 6 Oregon State as Stanford defeated the Beavers 2-1 to earn a spot in the semifinals.
2024 Pac-12 Baseball All-Tournament Team
Catcher - Malcolm Moore, Stanford
1st Base - Peyton Schulze, Cal
2nd Base - Ryan Jackson, USC
Shortstop - Mason White, Arizona
3rd Base - Max Handron, Cal
Outfield - Brayden Dowd, USC
Outfield - Brendan Summerhill, Arizona
Outfield - Rodney Green, Jr., Cal
DH - Kevin Takeuchi, USC
Pitcher - Caden Aoki, USC
Pitcher - Clark Candiotti, Arizona
MVP - Mason White, Arizona