It wasn’t a particularly lucky Friday the 13th for the Stanford baseball team, which suffered a 9-7 setback to host Utah in the opener of a three-game Pac-12 series.
The Cardinal fell behind, 7-0, after four innings with all the runs charged to freshman ace Tristan Beck.
Tommy Edman recorded three hits for Stanford (24-20, 10-12 Pac-12 play), which resumes the series with the first-place Utes at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Beck pitched a perfect first and then struggled the rest of the way, giving up a run in the second, four in the third and two more in the fourth.
Stanford started chipping away at the lead in the fifth. The Cardinal loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a Jack Klein single ahead of Matt Winaker’s RBI ground out, and RBI singles from Nico Hoerner and Edman.
Menlo School grad Mikey Diekroeger doubled home two runs in the sixth and Stanford added a run in the seventh to close within 8-7.
Sophomore Keith Weisenberg kept the game close, allowing a run on one hit over three innings of relief. Freshman Kris Bubic allowed a run in the eighth, and Tyler Thorne slammed the door, stranding two runners thanks to Klein’s diving catch.
Edman, who finished with his sixth three-hit performance of the season, reached on an error to start the ninth, but that was all the Cardinal could muster.
Edman extended the longest current hit streak of the season for the Cardinal to nine games and is one shy of his career high set in 2014. Quinn Brodey extended his career-best hit streak to eight games.
Softball
Stanford turned a nifty triple play in the seventh inning, the highlight of a 4-2 Pac-12 loss to visiting No. 13 Washington on Friday.
With both Huskies runners going, Bessie Noll ran down a fly ball at the base of the right-center field fence and quickly fired the ball into the infield.
The Washington runners never had a chance as Lauren Wegner, Kaitlin Schaberg and Kalya Bonstrom combined to complete a routine 8-4-6-3 triple play.
Jessica Plaza and Wegner drove in runs for the Cardinal, Schaberg had two hits and Bonstrom extended her hitting streak to seven games with a first-inning single.
Stanford will recognize its senior class prior to Saturday’s regular-season finale. First pitch is slated for noon, with the game broadcast live on Pac-12 Network.
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics
By Palo Alto Online Sports/Stanford Athletics