Stanford Baseball Back in Win Column with Victory Over Sacramento State

Big win for the Cardinal

Mar 1, 2025; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal first baseman Rintaro Sasaki (3) catches a ball during the eighth inning against the Xavier Musketeers at Sunken Diamond. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

What a way to set the tone. Coming off of a weekend in which they took a series loss to Wake Forest, the Stanford Cardinal (22-19, 7-17 ACC) returned home to host the Sacaramento State Hornets on Monday, earning the 2-1 win to get back into the win column ahead of another big weekend.

It was a dominant display of pitching for the Cardinal, who got seven innings out of starter, Nick Dugan. Allowing one run on six hits while striking out six through seven innings, Dugan earned the win to improve to 5-0. Sam Garewal came in to finish things off and struck out three batters in two innings en route to earning the save.

Stanford scored first in the very first inning. With Trevor Haskins on base, left fielder Cort MacDonald hit an RBI double to bring in Haskins, making it 1-0 Stanford. Later that same inning, Jimmy Nati grounded into a double play, but with MacDonald eventually making his way over to third, he managed to score on Nati's at-bat and give the Cardinal a 2-0 lead.

And while Sacramento State did manage to score a run in the second to cut Stanford's lead to 2-1, they were unable to muster anything else, with the Cardinal's defense staying strong all game to prevent any more runs from coming across.

With the win, the Cardinal manage to stay above .500, but with the struggles that they have endured this season, they are now most likely on the outside looking in when it comes to making the postseason.

Missing it last year after qualifying for the College World Series the previous three seasons, the Cardinal have been on a mission to get that spark back and return to national prominence.

Now improving to 22-19, the Cardinal will turn their attention onto their next three-game series this weekend when they hit the road and head to the East Coast to take on Boston College. Spanning from Friday-Sunday, all games will be broadcast on the ACC Network. First pitch for Friday is at 3 p.m. (PT), first pitch on Saturday is at 11 a.m. (PT) while first pitch on Sunday is at 10 a.m. (PT).