Palo Alto resident Alex Blandino hit two home runs, driving in four runs, and Stanford won its third straight, topping host Saint Mary’s, 6-2, in a nonconference baseball game on Wednesday.
Tommy Edman, Austin Slater and Zach Hoffpauir each added two hits for the Cardinal (17-17), which has won six of seven overall to climb back to .500 for the first time since being 4-4.
Stanford hosts California this weekend in an important Pac-12 Conference series, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Marcus Brakeman (1-3) pitched 5 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to gain credit for the victory. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out seven after taking over for starter Brett Hanewick with one out in the fourth.
Brakeman retired the last 10 batters he faced, including the final six by strikeout.
Freshman Tommy Edman drew a walk to open the game and freshman Jack Klein was hit by a pitch in front of senior Danny Diekroeger, who sacrificed both runners up.
Blandino followed with a three-run shot over the left field fence to give the Cardinal a 3-0 lead. Hoffpauir also doubled in the inning and advanced to third on a passed ball but was left there.
In the third, Blandino walked with one out and Slater followed with a double. Blandino scored on a wild pitch. He hit a solo home run with one out in the fifth and has a team-leading six on the year.
Stanford added another run in the sixth after Drew Jackson was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a passed ball.
Brakeman gave up a run-scoring single before establishing his dominance the rest of the way. Hoffpauir aided the cause by throwing out a runner at the plate in the fifth inning.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports