Arizona Wildcats coach Jay Johnson often talks about the importance of winning the “free-base war.” Walk more than your opponent, and you have a good chance to walk away with a victory.
That formula worked perfectly Friday night — for visiting Stanford.
The third-ranked Cardinal parlayed two walks into a five-run seventh inning. Stanford defeated Arizona 8-2 in Game 1 of a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field.
The Cardinal (28-5, 10-3 Pac-12) won its fifth in a row. The Wildcats (23-13, 6-7) lost for just the third time in 20 home games this season.
"It’s a quality opponent," Johnson said. "We knew we had to play 27 outs and nine innings. We’ll regroup and try to be more complete tomorrow."
Starting pitchers Cody Deason and Tristan Beck dueled for six innings before Arizona’s Deason hit a wall in the seventh. The inning began with a walk to Maverick Handley. Bryce Carter followed with an RBI triple, trimming Arizona’s lead to 2-1.
Carter scored the tying run on Christian Robinson’s sacrifice fly. Deason then yielded a solo home run to No. 9 hitter Alec Wilson, his first of the season.
Zach Sherman relieved Deason and walked Beau Branton on four pitches — the first walk Sherman had allowed since his first appearance of the season. The Cardinal would plate two more runs to make it 5-2.
Deason (4-3) allowed only four hits in 6 1/3 innings but walked four batters. It was the fourth time this season he has walked four or more.
Arizona pitchers walked six batters. Stanford walked just two. The Cardinal entered Friday having yielded the fewest free passes (84) in the Pac-12.
Both dugouts were on the verge of clearing in the top of the eighth inning when Robinson spiked UA third baseman Nick Quintana.
Robinson drove a pitch off the wall in left-center. He tried to turn the hit into a triple. The relay throw beat him. Robinson slid late and awkwardly into Quintana’s right leg, upending him and jarring the ball loose.
Johnson and the Wildcats were incensed. As Johnson sprinted toward third base, players began to spill out of the dugouts. Assistant coaches on both sides held them back, averting a potential skirmish.
Johnson initially declined comment on the incident. Asked if it was a bad slide, he said the following:
"Nick Quintana’s one of the best players in the Pac-12, and he’s a very honest and trustworthy person. The slide and what transpired immediately after the slide … it’s a competitive deal. We seem to be in a lot of those types of things. He’s one of our best players. He’s a great human being. I just wanted to make sure he was all right."
Deason was less diplomatic. He was in the clubhouse at that point, watching the game on TV. He described Robinson's slide as "outrageously dirty."
"That’s not OK in my book," Deason said. "It's just bush league, honestly."
The Wildcats let Beck off the ropes, and he earned the win to improve to 5-2. Beck allowed one earned run in six innings.
Beck earned first-team All-Pac-12 and various Freshman All-America honors in 2016, when he went 6-5 with a 2.48 ERA. He missed last season because of a back injury.
“He probably would have made them a national-championship contender last year,” Johnson said earlier this week. “They almost were without him.”
The 2017 Cardinal went 42-16, 21-9 in the Pac-12. Stanford hosted a regional but was eliminated by Cal State Fullerton, which reached the College World Series.
Stanford swept Arizona last season and entered Friday having won four in a row against the Wildcats. Beck was 4-2 with a 3.11 ERA, but Arizona got to him early.
With one out in the bottom of the first inning, Cameron Cannon reached first on an error. Alfonso Rivas III followed with a double off the center-field wall, driving in Cannon and giving Arizona a 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats had opportunities in the second and fourth innings to expand the lead but couldn’t get runners home from third base with less than two outs.
In the second, Matt Fraizer — again batting leadoff in place of the injured Cal Stevenson — flew out to shallow left with the bases loaded. Cannon then lined out to shortstop.
In the fourth, freshman DH Tate Soderstrom led off with a hustling double to right-center. He advanced to third on a Ryan Haug sacrifice bunt but never made it home. Donta Williams grounded out to third, and Jacob Blas did the same to short.
Williams had another RBI opportunity in the sixth, and this time the freshman came through. Soderstrom singled with one out and reached second on a groundout. Williams then drilled a single to right-center, scoring Soderstrom and making it 2-0.
Stanford added another run in the eighth and two more in the ninth on back-to-back homers by Andrew Daschbach and Kyle Stowers.
Inside pitch
- Stevenson sat out for the second straight game after injuring his right hand Sunday at USC. The senior center fielder swung a bat before the game. He wore a pad on his hand while watching from the dugout. Johnson said Stevenson is day to day.
- A pregame ceremony to honor the late Jerry Kindall is set to begin at 6:40 p.m. Saturday. Participants include Johnson, former UA coaches Andy Lopez and Jerry Stitt, and members of Kindall’s family.
- Game 2 will pit Stanford junior left-hander Kris Bubic (5-0, 2.40 ERA) against Arizona junior righty Michael Flynn (5-2, 4.70). Keith Law of ESPN.com ranks Bubic as the No. 30 prospect in the 2018 MLB draft.
- Former NBA player Ronny Turiaf and UA professor Ricardo Valerdi threw out first pitches before the game. Both were speakers at the International Sports Diplomacy & Leadership Conference being hosted by the school.
- Former UA basketball players Keanu Pinder and Talbott Denny attended the game.
