A play at the plate ended up making the difference. Credit: Jack Gilday/GoStanford.com

On Saturday, Stanford baseball fell to Michigan by a final score of 7-6 in their second game of the College Baseball Series in Surprise, Arizona. Cade Montgomery (1-0) was the winning pitcher for the Wolverines in a starting role, while Gavin DeVooght (2) picked up the save. Montgomery went 6.1 innings without giving up a run and striking out five batters. Aidan Keenan (0-1) was the losing pitcher for the Cardinal in a starting role, going 4.1 innings while giving up four runs, three hits, and five walks. Michigan improves to 2-0 on the season while Stanford falls to 1-1.

BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. Michigan-February 14th

Michigan first got on the board in the top of the 3rd inning as Cade Ladehoff hit a triple to left center with two outs to bring home Greg Pace Jr. and Brayden Jefferis. That made it a 2-0 lead for the Wolverines. Michigan would soon go up 3-0 in the top of the 4th inning after Evan Haeger hit a single through the right side to bring home Colby Turner.

In the top of the 5th inning, Michigan added another run as Matthew Ossenfort singled to center field off Stanford pitcher Trevor Moore, bringing home Ladehoff. The run was earned to Keenan as he was the pitcher who allowed Ladehoff to get on base. 4-0 the Wolverines led.

In the bottom of the 5th inning, Stanford got on board as Ethan Hott singled down the right field line to bring home Brady Reynolds, who was on second base after hitting a single and then advancing due to an error when Luke Lavin was at bat. That made it a 4-1 game. Brock Sell would ground out to end the bottom of the inning as Montgomery remained on the mound for the Wolverines.

An RBI single with one out by Carson Luna gave Michigan a 5-1 lead in the top of the 7th inning as Ladehoff scored from second base. That would be the only run the Wolverines would add in the inning. Liam Golden replaced Moore on the mound for Stanford but was not able to finish the inning as he failed to get a single out, instead hitting Cade Ladehoff and then walking Brenden Stressler. Andrew Shaw would come in to pitch for Golden and strike out three of the four batters he faced to end the inning, giving up the hit to Luna.

Stanford would get on the board in the bottom of the 8th inning to make it 5-2. Tatum Marsh doubled to left field after which Charlie Bates grounded up the middle to advance Marsh to third base. Thanks to a wild pitch from Michigan reliever Max Debiec, Marsh came home.

In the top of the 9th inning, Shaw would walk Ladehoff after which Stressler doubled to left center, making it a 6-2 lead for the Wolverines. Kassius Thomas would then come in to relieve Shaw. Thomas would give up a single to Noah Miller, which went down the left side of the infield, bringing home Stressler. It was now a 7-2 lead for the Wolverines.

In the bottom of the 9th inning, Stanford rallied hard to pull off the come back but came up one run short. Rintaro Sasaki got walked after which JJ Moran singled to left field, advancing Sasaki to second base. With one out, Hott tripled to right center to bring home Sasaki and Moran. Sell then reached first base thanks to an error in the infield, bringing home Hott. It was now a 7-5. Marsh then singled up the middle, advancing Sell to third base. Bates then then singled to left field, bringing home Sell while Marsh was called out at home. The call at home plate was reviewed and upheld. Down 7-6 with only one out left, Stanford had Jimmy Nati come to the plate. Nati would then strike out swinging, ending the game. 7-6 Michigan held on to win.

For Stanford, this is a frustrating loss in that there was a play at the plate that would have forced extra innings. At the same time, they showed a lot of fight and given that Michigan beat No. 12 Oregon State, this isn’t a bad loss at all for Stanford. The big takeaway is you can’t get down by multiple runs and expect to win. The pitching needs to be stronger up front so that the bats don’t feel like they have to be on right away.

Up next for Stanford is a game against No. 12 Oregon State on Sunday, February 15th at 11:00 AM PT on Flo College. That will be their third of four games in Arizona.

CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Bluesky: @StanfordRivals

Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube, & Bluesky: @slamdunk406

Email: [email protected]

Join the conversation on CardinalSportsReport.com