Stanford Baseball Gets Swept by the Golden Bears

You win some, you lose some. For the Stanford Cardinal (15-6, 5-4 ACC), a weekend series against former Pac-12 foe, Cal, did not go as planned as the Cardinal were swept by the Golden Bears, forcing them to regroup as they enter the new week.

The first game of the series saw the Cardinal lose 13-3 in seven innings, where the mercy rule was enacted. Starting pitcher Matt Scott got roughed up on Friday night, going 1.2 innings and allowing six runs on seven hits, taking the loss to fall to 4-1 on the season.

After Cal got out to an early 6-0 lead in the first two innings, Stanford started to claw back, cutting the Golden Bears lead down to 6-3 thanks to a Rintaro Sasaki RBI single, Tatum Marsh driving in a run after reaching on an error and Jimmy Nati hitting an RBI single.

But in the sixth inning, Cal scored another four runs to take the 10-3 lead, capping the game off with three more runs in the seventh, with Cal catcher Alex Birge ending the game after hitting a two-run homer to make it 13-3 and enable the mercy rule.

Game two once again went mostly Cal's way, with the Golden Bears leading 6-0 through four innings, with Stanford starting pitcher Christian Lim going 4.1 innings and allowing eight runs on 10 hits.

The Cardinal scored their first run in the bottom half of the fourth when freshman star, Charlie Bates, reached on a fielder's choice, making it 6-1 Cal. The Golden Bears then proceeded to score two more in the fifth.

In the fifth inning, a home run to right field by Sasaki made it 9-2 and cut the Cal lead down but once again, Cal quickly responded, with designated hitter Ryan Tayman hitting a two-run homer in the sixth to extend the Cal lead to 11-2.

In the seventh inning, the Cardinal made it 11-3 when Trevor Haskins hit a deep home run to left while in the eight inning, Nati made it 11-4 with a solo shot to left center.

But Cal was ready to end the game. In the final inning, center fielder Seth Gwynn drove in another run for the Golden Bears where he grounded out to first, but managed to bring the runner in from third.

Later that same inning, Cal first baseman Dominic Smaldino hit a solo home run to right field, giving Cal the 13-4 lead, eventually leading to the win.

Looking to take home a win on Sunday, the Cardinal came out on a mission. While it was a much closer game, Cal still proved too much too handle, handing Stanford a 6-5 loss in 10 innings. After Cal got ahead 1-0 in the first inning following a home run by Cade Campbell, the Cardinal took over, taking a 2-1 lead in the second after Ethan Hott hit a single to drive in two.

In the fourth inning, an RBI single from Haskins and a sac fly from Marsh helped the Cardinal score two more and take a 4-1 lead.

But the fifth inning is where things really shifted. Starting with an RBI from Cal's Carl Schmidt, the Golden Bears were able to tie things up at 4-4 by the end of the inning, also getting a run after Jarren Advincula brought in a run via a fielder's choice and Campbell tying things up after hitting an RBI single to right field.

Cal then took back the lead in the sixth inning, when Advincula was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in the run, making it 5-4 Cal. In the bottom half of the inning, Stanford tied up thanks to a single from Brady Reynolds, allowing Haskins to score and making it a 5-5 game.

The game then proceeded to remain tied throughout the rest of regulation, forcing extra innings to be played. That is where Cal ended things and went home as the winners, with pinch-hitter Ethan Kodama hitting a single down the left field line, bringing in the run and helping the Golden Bears win 6-5.

Joey Volchko started the last game, going 4.2 innings while allowing four runs on six hits, but it was Toran O'Harran who got the loss, pitching one inning but allowing a run on two hits.

Despite the sweep, the Cardinal will have one more game to cap off a long weekend, taking on San Jose State at home on Monday, with first pitch scheduled for 2:05 p.m. (PT). After that, the Cardinal will hit the road and shift focus to a three-game series against Virginia, which is set to begin on Friday.