Stanford Righty Matt Scott Dominates Washington Over Six

Stanford, Calif. -- The Stanford Cardinal baseball program is off to a hot start, going 5-0 thus far this season, and on Friday afternoon at the Sunken Diamond, it was the Cardinal's arms that were on full display in the 2-0 victory.

Serving as Stanford's Friday night starter for a second consecutive season, 6-foot-7 Matt Scott filled up the strike zone across six scoreless frames. Utilizing his full four-pitch arsenal and sitting 92-95 with the heater, Scott allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out ten. He threw 84 pitches, 57 of which were strikes. Eight of his ten strikeouts were swinging.

In the top of the sixth inning, Washington put up their biggest challenge and had Scott on the ropes, clinging to a 2-0 lead. After recording a strikeout to begin the frame, Scott allowed a single to left fielder AJ Guerrero and a double to catcher Colton Bower, putting runners at second and third with just one out.

Scott was able to strike out Casen Taggart for the second out of the inning, and followed that up by getting Trevor Cole to ground out to short. Of the eight outs he recorded that weren't strikeouts, Scott also induced seven ground balls and one fly out in this one.

After the game, Scott said that he just took a deep breath in that situation, and his mindset was to just attack one hitter at a time. "You can't get two outs on one pitch. I mean, you can, but you have to take each hitter and focus on each pitch."

Through two starts this season, Scott has allowed a total of one run across 11.1 innings, giving up eight hits, three walks, and has compiled 14 strikeouts. His ERA sits at just 0.79. He came into this season as a potential first-round MLB Draft prospect, and one of the top starters in the nation. He's certainly living up to the billing in the early going.

Scott wasn't the only pitcher who excelled in this one, however. Senior Ty Uber came on in relief of Scott, and he tossed another two scoreless frames, allowing just one walk, while striking out three. He has already worked 5.1 innings in relief for Stanford this season and holds a 1.69 ERA in the early going.

Sophomore Aidan Keenan closed out the Stanford win, earning his second save of the season. He faced just three batters in the ninth, retiring the side on 15 pitches (nine strikes). He also struck out one.

The shutout victory was the first for the Cardinal since blanking Santa Clara 19-0 on May 17, 2022 on the road … was the first home shutout since an 8-0 victory vs. Arizona State on April 8, 2022. With the win, Stanford has won four of the last five against Washington, a former Pac-12 foe.

Stanford and Washington will face off again on Saturday, February 22 at 2:05 p.m. (PT). The series will continue on Sunday and wrap up on Monday with a slightly earlier start time of 1:05 p.m. (PT) for each. All games will be available on ACC Network.