Los Altos Hills, Calif. - #6 Stanford Club Baseball played a three-game set against Saint Mary's in the final series of the regular season this past weekend. Heading into the series atop the NCBA DII Pacific North at 14-3 (13-1), Stanford treated the home crowd at Purissima Park to a show. The Cardinal slugged a half-dozen home runs to power their way to 12-5, 11-1, and 9-7 victories.


Stanford jumped out early and never looked back in a 12-5 Game 1. Both Danny Gass and Donnie Raymond finished one hit shy of the cycle and the Card rapped out 13 hits in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader.

Stanford got on the board in the bottom of the first when graduate RHP Donnie Raymond lined one that some spectators rather dubiously attested "never got more than 15 feet off the ground" on its way out to center field before clearing the low fence, chasing home Jamie Baum and Caden Denning and giving the Cardinal an early 3-0 advantage. It was Raymond's first homerun of the year. In the second, back-to-back-to-back Denning-Raymond-Gass RBI singles extended the lead to 7-0. In the third, a 2-RBI Raymond double made things 9-0, and Gass tripled him in to take the game across the slaughter-rule threshold, 10-0. 

Unfortunately for the Cardinal, the Gaels scratched across five runs in the top of the fifth to keep the game alive, marring Raymond's day on the mound. The Flower Mound, TX product was lifted in between innings and finished with a 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K line while being awarded the win. In the bottom of the fifth, Danny Gass cracked one into the "cheap seats" in left field (his second of the year) to drive in Raymond and push the game to its final scoreline: 12-5. On the mound, Angel Villeraldo Amador steadied the ship out of the bullpen with two innings of scoreless, one-hit ball while striking out two and walking two.

Offensively, the top four hitters in the Cardinal lineup accounted for almost all of its productivity. Graduates Jamie Baum and Caden Denning both reached base three times and scored thrice, Donnie Raymond finished a triple shy of the cycle, driving in six runs and scoring three times, and Danny Gass finished a double shy of the cycle, driving in five and scoring once himself. Raymond and Gass combined to drive in 11 of the 12 runs, and the top four batters scored ten times.


In Game 2, Denning, Gass, and Raymond all left the yard as Stanford cruised to an 11-1, slaughter-rule truncated triumph.

Saint Mary's opened the scoring with an RBI groundout to Jamie Baum to claim a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. With Raymond on base in the bottom half, Danny Gass homered for the third time this season, seesawing the Cardinal back in front, 2-1. Though early, it was a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. In the last of the second, center fielder Caden Denning (who had been given the second game of the doubleheader off from catching) launched a long ball to straightaway center that was gloved by the Gaels' centerfielder - an incredible play. However, his contact with the fence rattled the ball loose, and it dropped on the other side of the boundary. Denning's first round-tripper of the campaign drove home Tomas Coghlan to extend the Cardinal lead to 4-1. In the bottom of the fourth, Stanford cashed in four more via a Baum single, Denning single, Raymond fielder's choice, and Cooper Tenney single. Leading 8-1 in the fifth, Raymond launched a mammoth three-run shot to plate Dean Perry and Jamie Baum; a slaughter rule walk-off to put a bow on the team's fine offensive performance. 

Game 2 marked the sixth time Stanford invoked the slaughter rule on the campaign. Once again, the Gaels encountered difficulty retiring the middle of the Cardinal order. Denning, Raymond and Gass combined for five runs and nine runs batted in. Baum, Denning, Raymond, Tenney, and Perry all notched multiple hits in the contest. Starting pitcher Joseph Seddon cruised to the victory. The sophomore affably nicknamed "Seddonkey" went the full five innings while only surrendering one earned run on five hits, three walks, and a strikeout. He hardly had to sweat at the plate, either - he walked in all three of his plate appearances.


Game 3 was the tightest of the weekend's affairs. Stanford surged to a 9-1 lead and held on by the skin of their teeth to survive a spirited Saint Mary's comeback, 9-7. 

The young deadlock was broken by Raymond, who lofted one "downtown" with Denning on base to push the Cardinal in front, 2-0. The gopher ball was Raymond's third on the weekend - he homered in every fixture. Freshman Dean Perry, though slightly under the weather, singled later in the inning to drive in fellow youngster Danny Gass. In the second frame, a Gass free pass and a Seddon hit by pitch notched the fourth and fifth tallies of the outing. After an RBI ground out from Raymond in the third, Saint Mary's hopped on the board with a single to right, rendering the score 6-1. In the last of the fifth, Stanford pushed three more across thanks to a Gass single, Tenney sacrifice fly, and Raymond's aggressive baserunning to execute a double steal (along with Gass) and score on a wild pitch.

At 9-1 with only two innings to play, the game seemed to be heading for another slaughter rule. However, the Gaels didn't throw in the towel. In fact, they delivered a furious flurry of blows in the sixth, sending ten batters to the plate and bringing the tally on the judge's card to 9-7. The haymaker: a back-breaking, bases-clearing, two-out double that propelled the Gaels from down five to only trailing by a pair. Reeling, Stanford went down in order on only five pitches in the bottom half. With hardly a moment to collect his thoughts, Gregory Block and Will Ogden Director of Baseball Evan Schieber opted to take the ball from setup man Danny Gass in favor of Los Altos Hills native Jamie Baum to protect a two-run lead in the seventh.

The leadoff Gael singled to bring the tying run to the plate. Baum induced a flyout, and then issued a free pass to put the go-ahead run at the plate. With one away, a 1-0 Baum offering got away from catcher Caden Denning, but ricocheted right back to him off the short backstop. With both Gaels in motion, Denning wheeled and fired to third, a perfect strike, and Raymond applied the tag to barely nab the runner, a crucial second out of the inning. Another walk placed men at first and second with two out for the second hitter in the Saint Mary's lineup, but Baum got him to pop out to preserve the 9-7 Cardinal advantage and record a nail-biting save.

Offensively, once again, Baum, Denning, Raymond, and Gass all reached base multiple times. On the bump, NCBANow Pacific Region Player To Watch Tommy Kaufman turned in a solid starting performance. The sophomore southpaw worked four strong innings of four-hit, one-run (unearned) ball. He struck out one, walked two and was credited with the win. Danny Gass worked a clean fifth inning before the fateful sixth, which landed him a 2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 2 ER, BB, 2 K line. Baum scattered a hit and two walks to record the save.

The weekend saw massive performances from three Cardinal in particular. Danny Gass tallied a zany line: 6-11, 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 SB. Graduate students Caden Denning and Donnie Raymond, playing in their final full club baseball series, recorded 4-9, HR, 4 RBI, 8 R, 2 BB, SB, HBP and 7-10, 2B, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 2 SB performances, respectively. The potent 2-3-4 Denning-Raymond-Gass punch drove in 26 of the 32 runs over the weekend. Raymond received NCBA Pacific North Player of the Week recognition for his big series, his fifth Pacific North Player/Pitcher of the Week award this season. 

Stanford's final regular season series of the year was special, in many ways. Younger members of the team put together touching tributes to commemorate the club baseball careers of three graduating veterans of the team: Jamie Baum, Caden Denning, and Donnie Raymond. The sweep also betters Stanford's record to a strong 17-3 (16-1), while the record of Saint Mary's slides to 4-11 (4-11). The performance almost assures that Stanford will take part in the NCBA DII Pacific Regional tournament as either the at-large bid or the Pacific North conference champion. The Cardinal have one game left to play against #1 Santa Clara, who took two out of three from Menlo to improve to 16-3 (14-2) on the season. Though Stanford currently leads the conference, the single weekend game against the Broncos will likely be for all the NCBA Pacific North marbles and will have big regional playoff seeding implications. The clash will take place at legendary Woodside High School at 11:00 AM on Sunday, April 26. 


**Update** In addition to garnering Pacific North Player of the Week honors, Raymond was tabbed NCBA National Player of the Week for his offensive outburst.