Stanford Club Baseball took two of three in their series this past weekend against the University of San Francisco. The Cardinal dropped the first game 4-5 but bounced back with a 13-1 win in Game 2 and a nail biting 3-2 win in Game 3 to take the series.
Stanford's bats were largely quiet in Game 1, as the Cardinal only recorded 3 hits the whole game. Stanford plated all four of its runs in the 2nd inning thanks to 4 walks and two well-timed singles. In spite of the loss, Joseph Seddon was excellent on the mound, tossing 6+ innings while striking out 4. However, a late comeback by the Dons allowed them to take Game 1 by a single run.
The Stanford bats woke up in Game 2. The Cardinal scored 13 runs off of 5 hits and 12 walks in the 5 inning mercy rule of the Dons. Evan Schieber and Caden Denning both had multi-hits games, with Schieber recording a double and a triple with 4 RBIs while Denning recorded 2 doubles and 3 RBIs. Casey Oden and Angel Villeraldo Amador both displayed spectacular plate discipline, with 3 walks a piece. This offensive outburst saw the Cardinal score 8 runs in the 1st inning, tacking on another 3 in the 3rd and 2 in the 4th.
Although helpful, Angel Villeraldo Amador would not need the run support his offense afforded him. The sophomore righty no-hit the Dons in a 103 pitch masterclass, striking out 7 in the process. He proved immaculate all afternoon, displaying a fastball with significant ride, a cutter with which he had pinpoint precision, and a devastating slider. Villeraldo's pitch mix induced significant weak contact when balls were put in play, as he recorded a 62.5% ground ball rate for the day. This no-hitter came in Villeraldo's second start during his club baseball tenure, as he continues to make himself an invaluable asset to the Cardinal's arm barn.
In the Game 3 rubber match for the series, USF struck first with 2 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. However, they would not score again. Freshman Tommy Kaufman, the southpaw starter for the Cardinal, pitched excellently, striking out 7 and only giving up 3 hits and a single walk in his 4 inning start. In spite of his masterful pitching, Kaufman left the game after the 4th inning in line for the loss as the Cardinal bats had been quiet up to that point. Evan Schieber opened up the scoring in the top of the 5th with a deep solo shot to left field on a two-strike hanger. Takamitsu Hida followed up Schieber's homer with a double of his own, scoring on the next play thanks to an RBI single from Caden Denning.
Cooper Tenney took the mound for the Cardinal in the 5th inning of the newly tied match-up and picked up right where Kaufman left off, recording two scoreless frames in the 5th and 6th. In the bottom of the 6th, with the game still tied, the Cardinal scraped the go-ahead run across the board thanks to a clutch RBI single from the man who no-hit the Dons the previous day, Angel Villeraldo Amador, scoring Angel Piña who had singled earlier in the inning. The Dons threatened in the top of the 7th with their first two hitters recording a hit and a walk. But Tenney proceeded to record a strikeout and two pop-outs, extinguishing any hope of a comeback and securing the series victory for the Cardinal.
Stanford will play its last conference series of the season this upcoming weekend in a 3-game set against St. Mary's in Orinda, California.
