Neither the rain nor the Michigan Wolverines could stop the Cardinal's march to 9-0. The blunt truth is that the rain offered more resistance. Stanford won 7-0 and left runs on the base paths as the Cardinal still have lessons to talk about concerning opportunities with runners in scoring position.
But you don't need many runs with Tristan Beck on the mound. He was superb and pitched through the seventh inning, which made it the longest outing of the season for a starting pitcher. He needed only 89 pitches to strike out eight and work around two hits and a walk. And those were the only baserunners the Wolverines could muster.
Austin Weiermiller and Daniel Bakst provided two drama-free innings of relief.
I thought it was a good move by Esquer to put Bakst on the mound for a stress free inning. He has struggled the most out of all the relievers and he responded with two strikeouts.
Andrew Daschbach had the loudest hit with a no-doubt, two-run home run.
Kyle Stowers delivered a big two-out hit to score two in the seventh inning. Stanford had runners in scoring position with no outs but Daschbach and Brandon Wulff couldn't bring them home. Stowers' hit made the inning productive.
Stowers finished with two hits. Alec Wilson also had a strong night with two hits and hard contact on an out.
David Esquer
"He was excellent," Esquer said of Beck's performance. "Mentally you have to be tough to pitch in these conditions. He didn't let it be about the rain or let it be about being cold. Or the mound not being perfect -- he was excellent tonight."
It seems to fit into the conversation of everyone contributing that Stowers and Wilson had good nights after a couple games of little contact: "They did a great job behind the scenes (with) the amount of time they put in to get themselves back right. To see it pay off like that was really nice to see because they've been out here working hard to try to get themselves right. This game doesn't always reward you immediately, but tonight it was nice to see."
Putting Bakst in a no-pressure situation at the end, what did you like from him?
"I thought the ball came out of his hand well. I thought he was synced up. Much like his swing, when he stays in sync everything kind of works easier. I think early on with being new and not being on the mound for a while he was kind of fighting himself to try to get the same results he had in practice. I thought he was the best I've seen him all season."
Do you think there are still some teaching moments with runners in scoring position?
"Yeah. Again, Stowers got that big hit. I kind of teased him that he was carrying Wulff and Daschbach up to home plate with him because of the two at-bats they didn't score the runs. That's part of baseball. That's what makes it a team game. If Stowers comes up with the hit everyone forgets the lack of execution. That can relieve the pressure on your team if you know the next guy is up there taking you to home plate with him."
Kyle Stowers
Coach said you put in a lot of work behind the scenes to get on track. It must feel pretty good when it pays off: "Absolutely. For me it starts mentally. Obviously physical reps are always good but the coaches were huge this week with instilling confidence in me, which is super helpful, especially when things aren't going well. I think that was as important as the extra reps we got."
Any added satisfaction of coming through with two strikes and two outs?
"Great teams score runs with two outs. We're all capable of doing that. Daschbach and Wulff usually take care of business in that type of situation. Tonight they didn't so it was good to step up. It felt good."
I assume 9-0 sounds pretty good to you guys?
"It's awesome -- 10-0 sounds a lot better."
But you don't need many runs with Tristan Beck on the mound. He was superb and pitched through the seventh inning, which made it the longest outing of the season for a starting pitcher. He needed only 89 pitches to strike out eight and work around two hits and a walk. And those were the only baserunners the Wolverines could muster.
Austin Weiermiller and Daniel Bakst provided two drama-free innings of relief.
I thought it was a good move by Esquer to put Bakst on the mound for a stress free inning. He has struggled the most out of all the relievers and he responded with two strikeouts.
Andrew Daschbach had the loudest hit with a no-doubt, two-run home run.
Kyle Stowers delivered a big two-out hit to score two in the seventh inning. Stanford had runners in scoring position with no outs but Daschbach and Brandon Wulff couldn't bring them home. Stowers' hit made the inning productive.
Stowers finished with two hits. Alec Wilson also had a strong night with two hits and hard contact on an out.
David Esquer
"He was excellent," Esquer said of Beck's performance. "Mentally you have to be tough to pitch in these conditions. He didn't let it be about the rain or let it be about being cold. Or the mound not being perfect -- he was excellent tonight."
It seems to fit into the conversation of everyone contributing that Stowers and Wilson had good nights after a couple games of little contact: "They did a great job behind the scenes (with) the amount of time they put in to get themselves back right. To see it pay off like that was really nice to see because they've been out here working hard to try to get themselves right. This game doesn't always reward you immediately, but tonight it was nice to see."
Putting Bakst in a no-pressure situation at the end, what did you like from him?
"I thought the ball came out of his hand well. I thought he was synced up. Much like his swing, when he stays in sync everything kind of works easier. I think early on with being new and not being on the mound for a while he was kind of fighting himself to try to get the same results he had in practice. I thought he was the best I've seen him all season."
Do you think there are still some teaching moments with runners in scoring position?
"Yeah. Again, Stowers got that big hit. I kind of teased him that he was carrying Wulff and Daschbach up to home plate with him because of the two at-bats they didn't score the runs. That's part of baseball. That's what makes it a team game. If Stowers comes up with the hit everyone forgets the lack of execution. That can relieve the pressure on your team if you know the next guy is up there taking you to home plate with him."
Kyle Stowers
Coach said you put in a lot of work behind the scenes to get on track. It must feel pretty good when it pays off: "Absolutely. For me it starts mentally. Obviously physical reps are always good but the coaches were huge this week with instilling confidence in me, which is super helpful, especially when things aren't going well. I think that was as important as the extra reps we got."
Any added satisfaction of coming through with two strikes and two outs?
"Great teams score runs with two outs. We're all capable of doing that. Daschbach and Wulff usually take care of business in that type of situation. Tonight they didn't so it was good to step up. It felt good."
I assume 9-0 sounds pretty good to you guys?
"It's awesome -- 10-0 sounds a lot better."
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