#2 Stanford (34-6, 14-4 Pac-12) got strong pitching efforts from Erik Miller and Brendan Beck, one big bomb from Will Matthiessen, and some strong defensive plays to hold off visiting USF (24-21, 13-8 WCC) 5-2 Tuesday night at Sunken Diamond. Miller and Beck each pitched three scoreless innings and Matthiessen was one of four Cardinal players with two hits on the night, the biggest of which was a three-run homer in the third inning. The Cardinal has now won 16 straight midweek games dating back to last season.

After Miller got Stanford back into the dugout with two strikeouts in the top of the first, the Cardinal took advantage of some two-out generosity from USF. With Nico Hoerner aboard via a walk, Andrew Daschbach hit what appeared to be an inning-ending grounder to third. However, Dons’ First Baseman Ross Puskarich could not handle the throw and Hoerner hustled home for the game’s first run. The Cardinal went on to load the bases after a Kyle Stowers single and a Maverick Handley hit-by-pitch, but had to settle for the 1-0 lead.

The Cardinal offense put up some separation in the bottom of the third. Will Matthiessen took starter Benji Post deep and out over the Block “S” sign in left field. He did so right after Esquer audibly yelled out “Square on up!” to his hitter. It was Matthiessen’s first dong of the year and the three-run shot made it 4-0.

Stanford put up another run thanks to a wild pitch that brought Tim Tawa home in the fourth inning.

Miller was on a pre-determined pitch limit, and he gave the Cardinal three scoreless innings, allowing one hit, walking just one batter and striking out four. He gave way to Brendan Beck, who put up a perfect inning to start his evening.

Beck made it more interesting in the fifth. He struck out Brady Bate to start the inning, but his wild pitch allowed Bate to reach. The next batter, Jack Winkler, singled to left field. If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that nobody puts Baby Beck in a corner. Beck came back to strike out Nick Yovetich. Maverick Handley then threw Bate out trying to steal third, the 15th of 23 runners he’s thrown out on the season. Beck then finished the job with a strikeout.

Stanford left runners on second and third in the bottom of the fifth, but Beck got them right back into the dugout thanks in part to a diving catch from Stowers in left. The Freshman from Corona then finished his night with a scoreless sixth. Beck managed to one-up Miller’s solid effort. He went three scoreless, allowed one hit, walked none and struck out five. He threw 27 strikes on 35 pitches. That’s not a typo.

The Dons got on the board in the seventh. Pinch-hitter Robert Emery helped make a two-out rally count with a line single to left-center off Austin Weiermiller. Pitching Coach Thomas Eager brought in Zach Grech, and as he has done all year, Grech pitched out of the jam, striking out Aaron Ping to end the threat.

USF came right back in the eighth. With one out, Jonathan Allen singled and then Riley Helland doubled him home to make it 5-2. Jack Little came on for Grech and issued just his fifth walk on the year, but in better news for Stanford, he also issued strikeouts 38 and 39 on the year to end the USF threat with the tying run at the plate.

Little got a 1-2-3 inning to close out the game. He struck out three for his 13th save. Miller was awarded the win to move to 4-2 on the year.

Stanford heads to Salt Lake City to take on Utah in a three-game series starting Friday night in The Beehive State.

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R.J. Abeytia has been contributing to The Bootleg since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Abeytia and follow The Bootleg @TheBootleg for up to the moment Cardinal news and analysis.

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