Freshman Daniel Bakst delivered a two-out, three-run double in the seventh inning to lift No. 20 Stanford to a Pac-12 Conference baseball series-clinching 6-3 victory at USC on Saturday at Dedeaux Field.
Pitching near his hometown of Long Beach, senior Chris Castellanos (5-1) went eight innings to earn his fifth win of the season.
Nico Hoerner was 3-for-5 with three RBI, Jack Klein added three hits and freshman Erik Miller earned his first career save.
USC had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth when Miller came in to record the final out. Miller induced a slow grounder between first and second. Sophomore second baseman Duke Kinamon scooped it up and used his glove to flip the ball to first just in time.
Bakst put the Cardinal in a position to win it. He was the exclamation point on a two-out rally.
After a double play cleared a leadoff single, Matt Winaker walked, Hoerner singled and Quinn Brodey walked to load the bases. Bakst chopped one just inside the third-base bag, it rolled into the left field corner and plated all three runs.
USC (16-14, 5-7 Pac-12) had the lead after the Trojans opened the scoring with a solo home run in the home half of the second. But Stanford loaded the bases in the next half inning, and Hoerner tied the game with a single to right.
The Trojans capitalized on a leadoff double in the fifth for a 2-1 advantage that lasted until Bakst’s double.
The Cardinal added two more in the eighth. Hoerner came up with the bases loaded and two out. The shortstop rolled one between first and second and beat the pitcher covering first. Meanwhile, two Cardinal came around to score for a 6-2 lead.
Stanford returns to the Bay Area for a midweek matchup at San Jose State (7 p.m.) on Tuesday, and hosts UCLA for three at Sunken Diamond, April 13-15.
Men’s volleyball
Consecutive kills by Kevin Rakestraw sealed the win for No. 9 Stanford 25-15, 25-22, 28-26 at UC San Diego, Saturday, in the MPSF finale for both schools at RIMAC Arena.
Stanford closes out the regular season at 13-12 overall and 8-10 in the MPSF, earning the No. 7 seed for the conference tournament. The Cardinal will travel to No. 2 seed BYU on Saturday, April 15 for an MPSF quarterfinal match to begin the postseason.
Rakestraw hit a season-high .750 with 12 kills on 16 errorless swings. He also notched three blocks and two aces in the win for the Cardinal.
Redshirt senior Gabriel Vega led all players with 16 kills to go with seven digs, two blocks and an ace. Redshirt junior Colin McCall added nine kills on .333 hitting and Clay Jones finished with six kills and seven digs. Freshman middle blocker Jacob Thoenen chipped in with four kills and two aces.
UC San Diego (7-19, 3-15 MPSF) was playing without junior opposite Tanner Syftestad, who leads the Tritons in kills, aces and points this season, who was injured in Friday’s match against Pepperdine.
Freshman setter Paul Bischoff controlled the Cardinal offense, which hit .344, with 44 assists. He also collected eight digs, finishing two shy of a fourth double-double. Junior libero Evan Enriques also recorded eight digs in the match, while junior Kyle Dagostino had four.
Men’s golf
Isaiah Salinda shot a 1-under 69 in the opening round of the Western Intercollegiate and was 3-under in the second round before play was suspended due to darkness on Saturday evening. Salinda, second among individuals, helped the Stanford men’s golf team to a second-place standing at Pasatiempo Golf Club.
Stanford was even-par when play was halted with golfers on the back nine of the second round. USC holds the leads at 8-under, with play resuming Sunday morning. Live results for the final round of the 54-hole tournament will be available at GoStanford.com.
Defending medalist Maverick McNealy is tied for third at 3-under. His shaky start to the first round — three bogeys in the first five holes — was more than neutralized when he birdied six of his final 10 holes for a 2-under 68.
Franklin Huang and Bradley Knox are tied for 14th at 1-over. Knox had consecutive birdies on holes 13-14-15 during his opening round. Brandon Wu is 38th at 2-over.
Qomen’s crew
All three of No. 6 Stanford women’s rowing’s NCAA boats – varsity eight, second varsity eight and varsity four – swept its races Saturday on the first day of the Lake Natoma Invitational.
The Cardinal opened competition in the Lake Natoma Invitational facing Gonzaga and Clemson. The varsity eight raced down the course in 6:19.62 to win by open water. The second varsity posted a 10-second win in its race, recording a time of 6:29.30. The varsity four also won by open water with a time of 7:08.11.
Stanford faced Notre Dame and Sacramento State in the afternoon session. The Cardinal varsity eight posted its second open-water win of the day, with a time of 6:17.67, to defeat Notre Dame (6:27.26) and Sacramento State (6:41.35). The second varsity eight raced down the course in 6:24.12, to record its second win of the day. The varsity four also registered its second win of the day, posting an open-water win with a time of 7:11.56.
The Cardinal raced two additional second varsity fours on Saturday. One of the boats placed third behind a pair of Cal entries with a time of 7:25.41. Stanford’s other second varsity four finished second to Notre Dame with a time of 7:40.76.
Sunday’s action begins at 8:00 a.m., with a top-10 showdown as Stanford, No. 2 California and No. 9 Brown meet in the varsity four (8:20 a.m.), second varsity eight (8:50 a.m.) and varsity eight (9:20 a.m.).
Softball
Stanford surrendered four home runs at No. 4 Arizona, dropping the second game of the series, 12-0, in five innings Saturday afternoon at Hillenbrand Stadium.
Nine of the Wildcats’ (39-1, 11-0 Pac-12) 12 runs came on home runs. The Cardinal (16-17, 0-8 Pac-12) had its opportunities offensively but left runners stranded in four-of-five innings – including the bases loaded in the third.
Kylie Sorenson, Teaghan Cowles and Montana Dixon produced a hit apiece for the Cardinal.
Stanford went in an early hole when Arizona hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning, then a grand slam in the second to take a commanding 7-0 lead.
Stanford’s best opportunity to cut into Arizona’s advantage came in the top of the third inning when the Cardinal loaded the bases with two outs. Lauren Wegner drew a walk, while Sorenson and Cowles hit back-to-back singles.
Bessie Noll sent a 3-2 pitch to the warning track but Arizona’s centerfielder was there to make the catch and end the inning.
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics
By Stanford Athletics