STANFORD, Calif. – Freshman Duke Kinamon set a career high with three hits, which included a home run and the game-winning infield single in the bottom of the eighth, as Stanford baseball outlasted San Francisco, 7-6, at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday night.Â
Stanford (21-18) scored four in the third and led 6-1 after seven, but the Dons plated five in the eighth to tie the game. Freshman Nico Hoerner led off the bottom of the inning with a single and reached third with two outs. Kinamon then rolled one to the left of first and beat the pitcher covering the bag to give Stanford the decisive run.
After a few silent innings to start the game, the Stanford bats erupted for four runs in the third inning. Mikey Diekroeger, Kinamon and Jack Klein each singled to start the inning. Klein's hit brought home a run, and the next hitter, Matt Winaker, scored the other two with a triple into the right field corner. Winaker, who extended his hit streak to a career-best nine games, was plated on a sacrifice fly by Tommy Edman for a 4-0 lead.
Sophomore southpaw Andrew Summerville pitched three scoreless innings to start the game and allowed just one hit.Â
San Francisco pushed across a run against Brett Hanewich in the fourth to make it 4-1, and then brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth. The Dons loaded the bases with no outs, and Tyler Thorne entered in relief. The junior right-hander needed just two batters to record three outs and end the inning without allowing a run. A strikeout and double play preserved the three-run lead.
In the home half of the seventh, freshman Duke Kinamon clobbered one over the wall in left field for his second home run of the year. Edman added an RBI single later in the inning and its was a 6-1 Stanford advantage.
The Dons battled back in the eighth against reliever Chris Viall. The first six batters reached. A two-run double from Ross Puskarich made it 6-4. Sophomore Colton Hock entered, but the Dons tallied two more to tie the game, 6-6, and set up Kinamon's heroics.
NOTABLES: Alex Dunlap singled in the third and has reached base in 14 straight games, the longest active streak for Stanford and matches the longest of the season for a Cardinal (Winaker) ... Winaker's nine-game hit streak is now the longest of the year for a Cardinal ... In each of the last three games, Winker has extended his streak with an RBI hit ... Duke Kinamon has multiple hits in two of the last three games (5-for-10) ... Stanford is 3-0 in mid-week home games this year.
NEXT UP: Stanford hosts rival Cal for a three-game set beginning on Thursday. All three games begin at 7 p.m., and can be seen on the Pac-12 Networks.
