Nico Hoerner did everything within his power to make sure Stanford won on his 20th birthday. The Cardinal sophomore made several fantastic plays in the field and hit a single in the top of the 10th inning at Cal to put Stanford ahead 6-5. Colton Hock made up for a rare misplaced pitch in the eight inning that Denis Karas mashed for a game-tying home run. He stayed on the mound for the ninth and 10th innings to secure his sixth win of the season. The Cardinal (32-13, 14-8) didn't seem poised to go ahead in the 10th after Maverick Handley and Jesse Kuet each struck out looking. But Matt Winaker fought off several pitches to earn a 3-2 walk and then stole second. Hoerner also worked a 3-2 count and at one point lunged at the last second to foul off a close pitch. One pitch later he laced a single to left field and Winaker raced home.

T10: @nico_hoerner celebrating his 20th bday 🎂 with go-ahead hits in the 10th #GoStanford https://t.co/we0MoXvM9I — Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) May 14, 2017

"We've won them a lot of different ways," said head coach Marquess about the team's resilience. "We gave up a three run lead but I was really proud of how we came back." Hoerner said: "We've had a pretty similar formula to winning as last year, but we've gotten better at it. Pitching and defense has been solid. We have a similar lineup as last year but having another year under our belt and ... that's the difference between scoring two and three or four or five. That's been our big change." Stanford briefly trailed when Cal scored in the bottom of the first and the game was tied 2-2 before Brandon Wulff sent a driver screaming off the tee that may have made an infielder duck before it went over the fence. Wulff's three-run shot in the fifth appeared to give Stanford more than enough of a lead with Kris Bubic keeping the Golden Bears in check. Bubic struck out seven and only gave up four singles through six innings. He benefited from several stellar plays by Hoerner and second baseman Duke Kinamon.

On one play Hoerner raced up the left field line after a pop-up swirling in the wind and fell backward to make the catch after the long sprint. It just so happened that Friday Stanford put in extra work tracking pop-ups on a blustery day at Sunken Diamond. "I made a diving play down the line and it felt really similar," he smiled. Marquess lauded the great work of the "middle of the defense" from freshman catcher Maverick Handley to sophomores Hoerner and Kinamon and senior Jack Klein in center field. Cal tested Handley three times and scored runs after each of the first two attempts to steal second were successful. Cal tried the same formula of a walk and stolen base again in the bottom of the fifth to start a rally after Stanford took a 5-2 lead.

"He's the fastest I've ever seen with his feet and his release," Hoerner said of watching Handley from shortstop. "One thing I've talked to him about is maybe even slowing down because half the time the guys would be out by a lot but his throw is slightly off." There isn't much slowing Stanford's momentum at this point. Projected as a regional host by Baseball America and the No. 8 national seed by D1 Baseball, the Cardinal have an opportunity with each game to improve their position for the postseason.

