Stanford's bats catch fire in huge win in opening game against San Jose State

Stanford's bats stayed hot in their opening matchup of their regional

The No. 8 Stanford Cardinal hosted what was their first game of their regional on Friday against San Jose State, it truly couldn't have gone any better for the Cardinal.

Center fielder Eddie Park led off the game for Stanford, and after one swing the Cardinal found themselves up by one after he hit a solo shot. The Spartans would go on to get a tad frisky in the third inning pushing two runs across, but Stanford answered immediately of the bottom half in the inning in a big way.

With San Jose State's starter pitcher Johnathan Clark losing his command in the third, the Cardinal were able to load the bases after he walked Park, gave up a single to Tommy Troy, and hit Braden Montgomery. And the person that he loaded the bases for is likely the last person you'd ever want to put in that situation, as it was the Pac-12 Player of the Year, Alberto Rios. 

With two balls and two strikes, Rios launched the next pitch over the trees in left center, clearing the bases and giving Stanford the lead. They never looked back after that lead, and to add to it, Drew Bowser came up right after Rios and hit an absolute moonshot over the batter's eye in center field to make the score 6-2.

Alberto Rios that ball had a family https://t.co/kgxMcyizE5

— Inside The Stanford Cardinal (@InsideStanford) June 2, 2023

B3 » 🌲 6, ⚔️ 2@dreezydoesit2 OVER. THE. BATTER'S. EYE.

Third of the game for Stanford.

📺 » @ESPNPlus
💻 » https://t.co/8WJPdqyYUE#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/LWpBHYfQr7

— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) June 2, 2023

Troy would go on to join the party in the fifth inning after he hit a home run, making the score 11-2. The Cardinal would put two more runs across in the seventh to get to 13, and similar to last season's Omaha run, it was pitcher Quinn Mathews who was dominant on the mound.

The Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year threw seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits, allowing two walks and striking out seven. Brandt Pacer came in and closed the game out for Stanford, striking out two hitters in two innings. 

With the win, Stanford plays the No. 2 seed of the region Texas A&M on Saturday at 6 p.m.