Brendan Beck is a battler and he found a way to nearly complete six innings after he needed more than 50 pitches through the first two innings of Stanford's 7-4 win to start Pac-12 play. Beck (1-2) got his first win of the season and nearly performed a baseball miracle -- He loaded the bases in the second inning and got two straight strikeouts on 3-2 counts. He nearly got a third but walked in a run to give Utah its last lead of the game, 2-1.
Utah is not a good pitching team and neither is it a good fielding team -- four errors and a couple were doozies -- but its hitters were patient and pests fouling the ball off. Yet Beck pitched 5.2 innings, struck out five and the walk with the bases loaded was his only one.
It's great for Stanford that Duke Kinamon is back. Head coach David Esquer made some changes in the lineup and moved Kinamon to the No. 2 spot. He reached base three times (2B, 1B, BB) and scored three runs. He is an outstanding, aggressive base runner and for the second straight game (March 10 vs. Texas being the last) half the front of his jersey was covered in dirt. He got dirty in the bottom of the fifth when he attempted to steal third and scampered home when the errant throw went into left field.
He scored from second on a double play on a slow-hit grounder in the bottom of the seventh. He charged around third and the surprised first baseman's throw home didn't have a chance. Stanford scored four of its runs without recording a hit.
If Kinamon gets going that's going to be bad news for everyone else in the conference.
Maverick Handley had another productive day with two hits and two runs scored, although he'll be disappointed he allowed a stolen base.
Sophomore left-handed relief pitcher Austin Weiermiller should be talked about more. He's 5-11 and put in a lot of work to get stronger this offseason. He added a couple MPH to his fastball and can get close to 90 on occasions. He worked out of a jam in the sixth by striking out consecutive batters with runners on first and second. Four of his five outs were strikeouts.
David Esquer
Everyone in the lineup got at least one hit. It was a balanced attack. What can you say about this game?
"You never know how you're going to come out of finals and I thought it was a good effort against a good ball club. They did a good job with the bats themselves. We just had to see what kind of rhythm we would come out with. (Brendan) Beck battled and didn't have his best stuff. He was sick most of the week and I thought he did a great job getting through five for us. It was a good effort."
It was a strong all around game from Duke Kinamon. What can you say about his production?
"His baserunning ability is beyond. I don't if I've had a player make an impact on the bases like he can. He's a smart base runner and a good base runner. He puts pressure on an opponent and takes pressure off of our offense to hit when he can score a run."
Brendan threw more than 50 pitches to get through two innings but was on the doorstep of getting through six: "He's a precision pitcher and he's tough minded. He's confident in his stuff and we have a lot of confidence in him. Again, knowing he was probably not at full strength you wondered how far he could go and I thought he gutted it out for us and did a great job."
Duke Kinamon
You seem to enjoy the gritty part of baseball: "I just honestly like to come out and play hard every day. It's something I can control. It's something my teammates expect out of me. It's something I can give them every single day no matter how I'm feeling. If I am going good at the plate, if I'm not good going at the plate, just playing hard is something I've always prided myself on. It's something I know I can bring every day."
The decision to go for it around third base, is that based on seeing the first baseman not paying attention to you?
"No, I make that decision as soon as I see the ball is slow hit to second. I make that up my first step as I'm leaving second base. I put my head down and run as hard as I can. Most of the time when they're trying to turn the double play off the slow roller they're not even paying attention to the runner at second. Luckily it worked out and helped us out a little."
How do you think this team responded to the break?
"Good. We were all so anxious to play. A week of studying is not the most fun, so being able to come out here and play, we were all ready for it. We have spring break coming up and can just focus on baseball."
Utah is not a good pitching team and neither is it a good fielding team -- four errors and a couple were doozies -- but its hitters were patient and pests fouling the ball off. Yet Beck pitched 5.2 innings, struck out five and the walk with the bases loaded was his only one.
It's great for Stanford that Duke Kinamon is back. Head coach David Esquer made some changes in the lineup and moved Kinamon to the No. 2 spot. He reached base three times (2B, 1B, BB) and scored three runs. He is an outstanding, aggressive base runner and for the second straight game (March 10 vs. Texas being the last) half the front of his jersey was covered in dirt. He got dirty in the bottom of the fifth when he attempted to steal third and scampered home when the errant throw went into left field.
He scored from second on a double play on a slow-hit grounder in the bottom of the seventh. He charged around third and the surprised first baseman's throw home didn't have a chance. Stanford scored four of its runs without recording a hit.
If Kinamon gets going that's going to be bad news for everyone else in the conference.
Maverick Handley had another productive day with two hits and two runs scored, although he'll be disappointed he allowed a stolen base.
Sophomore left-handed relief pitcher Austin Weiermiller should be talked about more. He's 5-11 and put in a lot of work to get stronger this offseason. He added a couple MPH to his fastball and can get close to 90 on occasions. He worked out of a jam in the sixth by striking out consecutive batters with runners on first and second. Four of his five outs were strikeouts.
David Esquer
Everyone in the lineup got at least one hit. It was a balanced attack. What can you say about this game?
"You never know how you're going to come out of finals and I thought it was a good effort against a good ball club. They did a good job with the bats themselves. We just had to see what kind of rhythm we would come out with. (Brendan) Beck battled and didn't have his best stuff. He was sick most of the week and I thought he did a great job getting through five for us. It was a good effort."
It was a strong all around game from Duke Kinamon. What can you say about his production?
"His baserunning ability is beyond. I don't if I've had a player make an impact on the bases like he can. He's a smart base runner and a good base runner. He puts pressure on an opponent and takes pressure off of our offense to hit when he can score a run."
Brendan threw more than 50 pitches to get through two innings but was on the doorstep of getting through six: "He's a precision pitcher and he's tough minded. He's confident in his stuff and we have a lot of confidence in him. Again, knowing he was probably not at full strength you wondered how far he could go and I thought he gutted it out for us and did a great job."
Duke Kinamon
You seem to enjoy the gritty part of baseball: "I just honestly like to come out and play hard every day. It's something I can control. It's something my teammates expect out of me. It's something I can give them every single day no matter how I'm feeling. If I am going good at the plate, if I'm not good going at the plate, just playing hard is something I've always prided myself on. It's something I know I can bring every day."
The decision to go for it around third base, is that based on seeing the first baseman not paying attention to you?
"No, I make that decision as soon as I see the ball is slow hit to second. I make that up my first step as I'm leaving second base. I put my head down and run as hard as I can. Most of the time when they're trying to turn the double play off the slow roller they're not even paying attention to the runner at second. Luckily it worked out and helped us out a little."
How do you think this team responded to the break?
"Good. We were all so anxious to play. A week of studying is not the most fun, so being able to come out here and play, we were all ready for it. We have spring break coming up and can just focus on baseball."
