Beau Branton’s ninth-inning, two-out RBI single, followed by a Tommy Edman single to drive in Branton, lifted the Stanford baseball team to a 6-5 win over host Oregon Sunday at PK Park. The Cardinal avoided the Pac-12 Conference series sweep.
Stanford (20-25, 6-15 Pac-12) scored twice in the eighth and two more times in the ninth to erase a 5-2 Oregon lead. Zach Hoffpauir laced a two-run double to the left center field wall in the eighth to start the come-from-behind effort.
Drew Jackson, Branton and Edman — Stanford’s No. 1-3 hitters — each had two hits, along with Quinn Brodey and Jesse Kuet. Brodey added his first career home run in the fourth inning.
Kuet started the ninth inning with a two-strike single off Oregon closer Garrett Cleavinger. He moved to second on a sac bunt by Jack Klein before a strikeout set the table for Branton and Edman’s heroics.
Edman added a diving play up the middle for the second out of the bottom of the ninth and Tyler Thorne ended the game with a strikeout to seal the victory. Thorne (2-0) worked the final two innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two.
Oregon (27-20, 9-12 Pac-12) got a two-out two-strike double from Mitchell Tolman followed by an RBI single from Phil Craig-St. Louis to plate four runs in the fifth inning and grab the 5-2 lead. Oregon also scored once in the fourth to break a streak of 9.0 straight hitless innings by Cardinal pitching dating back to Saturday.
Thorne followed a 2 1/3-inning scoreless effort from Gabe Cramer. Only one base runner reached against Cramer, as the right-hander and Thorne combined to throw a one-hitter over the final 4 1/3 innings.
Andrew Summerville started and went 3 1/3 innings while allowing one run on one hit. Logan James was the first out of the bullpen and was on the hill for Oregon’s big fifth inning.
Stanford hosts Santa Clara Tuesday before a weekend trip to nationally-ranked USC.
Softball
Freshman Victoria Molina hit a one-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning and Stanford upset visiting No. 24 Arizona State, 4-2, in a Pac-12 contest Sunday.
Lauren Bertoy singled in the tying run in the seventh as the Cardinal (2-19 Pac-12, 17-34) rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win its final home game of the season and end a 15-game losing streak.
Stanford completes the season with a three-game series at California, beginning Thursday at 3 p.m.
Senior Erin Ashby (1-4) threw the final six innings in relief of Kylie Sorenson to earn her first collegiate pitching victory.
Ashby started the season as an infielder and volunteered to help a pitching staff devastated by injuries less than a month ago.
She also put the Cardinal in position to win with a leadoff home run, her sixth, in the seventh.
Ashby allowed two runs — one earned — on eight hits. She walked four and did not strike out a batter.
Sorenson, normally Stanford’s starting shortstop, threw three scoreless innings, allowing four hits and walking three.
The Sun Devils stranded 18 runners as Sorenson and Ashby pitched out of trouble all day.
Arizona State had at least two base runners on in each inning, expect for the sixth, when the Sun Devils managed a two-out single. They left the bases loaded in the second and had runners on second and third in the fifth when the inning ended.
Bertoy, who singled in the sixth, was the only Stanford runner in scoring position until Ashby’s home run. The Cardinal was 1 for 4 with runners in scoring position.
All three seniors were involved in tying the game in the seventh. Tylyn Wells followed Ashby’s homer with a one-out hit. Alyssa Lombardo was a pinch runner in the frame.
Sailing
Stanford went unbeaten in 11 races to earn the PCCSC team race championship and quality for the national championships.
Skippers Antoine Screve, Will La Dow, Hans Henken and Kieran Chung joined forces with crew members John Cannistraro, Samantha Steele, Nicolette Obel and Haley Kirk to complete the two-day sweep off the Redwood City coastline.
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics