Cardinal Wins 1-0 Pitchers' Duel in Ten

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Senior Alex Williams went toe-to-toe with Oregon State's Cooper Hjerpe in Friday night's series opener from Goss Stadium, as the Cardinal (13-8, 5-5 Pac-12) earned a 1-0 victory in 10 innings over the third-ranked Beavers (19-6, 6-4 Pac-12).

The shutout is the fifth of the year for Stanford, which entered with the fifth-most shutouts in the nation.

Williams contributed 6 1/3 innings of scoreless work, allowing six hits and two walks with three strikeouts, while escaping every jam he encountered. Oregon State left six runners on base through the first six innings – including three in scoring position.

On the other side, Hjerpe went eight shutout innings, allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out an OSU program-record 17 batters before taking a no decision.

Freshman Braden Montgomery had the biggest impact on the result for the Cardinal, contributing a go-ahead RBI-double in the top of the 10th that broke a scoreless game and proved to be the game winner. The double plated Tommy Troy who pinch ran for Kody Huff after a leadoff double. Huff finished the game 2 for 4, joining Joe Lomuscio (2 for 4) as the only two Cardinal players with multiple hits on Friday night.

Montgomery also was responsible for the game reaching extra innings in the first place after throwing out the potential go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh.

After Greg Fuchs singled to right-center field to start that frame, Oregon State elected to sacrifice the runner to second – spelling the end of the day for Williams. Sophomore Tommy O'Rourke took over and promptly allowed a single to right off the bat of Kyle Dernedde. Montgomery came charging on the single and fired a laser to the plate to cut down the runner trying to score.

Oregon State would collect one more single in the inning, but O'Rourke ultimately escaped unscathed en route to logging an inning of work with two strikeouts.

Sophomore Joey Dixon picked up the victory and moved to 2-1 after throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out a pair.

Junior Quinn Mathews, who is slated to start Saturday's game two, closed the game on the mound on Friday night. Mathews worked a 1-2-3 10th inning with two strikeouts while throwing nine pitches. The save was the first of Mathews' career.

Reid Sebby was saddled with the loss for Oregon State after allowing a run on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts over two innings. Wade Meckler finished 4 for 5 out of the leadoff spot for Oregon State.

Stanford, which struck out 21 times in the victory, will look to secure the series on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.