No. 9 Cardinal Drops Finale
STANFORD, Calif. – Having already locked up the series victory over Oregon State, No. 9 Stanford (33-14, 17-10 Pac-12) was unable to secure the series sweep on Saturday as the Beavers (34-22, 16-14 Pac-12) claimed a 9-1 victory in the regular-season finale from Sunken Diamond.
Prior to Saturday's contest, Stanford honored its nine senior student-athletes: Brendan Beck, Nick Brueser, Zach Grech, Jacob Palisch, Christian Robinson, Zach Sehgal, Tim Tawa, Austin Weiermiller and Jonathan Worley.
Oregon State starter Jake Pfennigs turned in six strong innings for the Beavers, allowing one run on five hits and a walk while striking out five to pick up the win. The right-hander improved to 5-0 on the year with the victory. Jake Mullholland took over with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh, striking out Brock Jones to end the threat. Mullholland would pitch the final 2 1/3 scoreless innings to seal the victory.
Junior Alex Williams was saddled with the loss for the Cardinal, falling to 2-2 on the year, after surrendering four runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. The Cardinal used six relievers behind Williams, including Worley to collect the final two outs.
Oregon State scored two runs in the top of the second, crossing the plate for the first time in the series. The runs scored snapped a string of 28 consecutive zeroes tossed up by the Stanford pitching staff – a streak dating back to the fourth inning of an 8-5 victory in 12 innings at Oregon on May 23.
Oregon State would stretch the lead to 4-0 with two more runs in the fourth before Stanford plated its lone run on an RBI-double from Drew Bowser to score Robinson from first base and cut the lead to 4-1 after four.
Bowser finished the game 2 for 4, while Robinson, Eddie Park, Tawa and Adam Crampton each had one hit.
The Beavers continued to stretch the lead as the game played on, adding three in the sixth and solo runs in the seventh and ninth to eventually earn the 9-1 victory. Troy Claunch led the way with a 3 for 6 day that included two RBIs. Justin Boyd and Matthew Gretler also contributed two RBIs, with Gretler's two-RBI double putting Oregon State on the board.
Stanford will now turn its attention to the postseason, awaiting the announcement of regional host sites on Sunday before the NCAA announces the field of 64 for the NCAA tournament on Monday at 9 a.m. on ESPN2.