Baseball loses 10th straight to No. 2 Stanford
WSU commits handful of errors in 7-1 defeat to Cardinal
ABIGAIL LINNENKOHL | DAILY EVERGREEN FILE
Redshirt junior Davis Baillie pitches during a game against California State University, Northridge on March 10 at Bailey-Brayton Field.
March 30, 2019
WSU baseball fell to No. 2 Stanford 7-1 Friday night at Bailey-Brayton Field in its first home game in nearly three weeks.
The Cougars (6-18, 0-4) committed a handful of defensive mistakes against the Cardinal (16-3, 4-0) that ultimately led to their 1oth straight loss.
“We gave up too many errors,” senior infielder Andres Alvarez said. “Maybe one, but not four and because we did we didn’t give our pitchers much help.”
Stanford jumped on WSU early in the top of the first inning as the Cougars committed an error that led to two unearned runs for the Cardinal.
The Cougars had plenty of chances to respond in the bottom of the first inning but couldn’t manage to score a run
Both teams would go scoreless in the second inning and then in the bottom of the third junior first baseman Dillon Plew and sophomore infielder Collin Montez would reach second and first base.
Alvarez hit an RBI single to bring home Plew and score the Cougars only run of the game.
Alvarez went 3-4 in the game against the Cardinal and he said he has just been trying to take each at-bat one at a time while maintaining his focus on defense.
“I’ve been feeling good lately,” Alvarez said. “I’ve been sticking to my approach, staying in the middle of the field and seeing the ball as it’s hit.”
Stanford would score again in the fifth inning to extend its lead to 3-1.
The top of the sixth nearly led to the Cardinal adding two more runs to their total with runners at third and second but a groundout got the Cougars out of the jam.
Stanford would bring home two runs in the seventh, one run in the eighth and another run in the ninth to secure the 7-1 win.
Cardinal designated hitter Will Matthiessen went 3-4 and had four RBI in the game.
Freshman right-handed pitcher Brandon White started for the Cougars and went 4 1/3 innings, giving up four hits and three runs with only one being earned. The five pitchers WSU used in the game combined for 13 strikeouts.
Despite losing, the Cougars outhit the Cardinal 10-9.
First pitch for the second of the three-game series is set for 2:05 p.m. Saturday at Bailey-Brayton Field.
