Box Score (PDF)
STANFORD, Calif. – Carson Tinney was perfect at the plate and Bino Watters hammered a go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth as the Notre Dame baseball team fought off host Stanford for a 10-9 win on Sunday to sweep the ACC series against the Cardinal.
Carson Tinney drilled a one-out double off the wall in the top of the first to continue a hot weekend at the dish for the Irish. Back-to-back grounders, however, stopped the scoring chance short in the opening at-bats for Notre Dame. Jackson Dennies retired the side in order to make quick work of the Stanford bats in the first inning.
Estevan Moreno put the Irish on the scoreboard in the top of the second with a no-doubt home run over the left field wall. Dennies continued to be efficient on the bump as the grad student had his second three-up, three-down effort in the second inning.
Jared Zimbardo dropped a one-out single to center field, and Carson Tinney drilled a single up the middle to put runners on the corners in the third. An infield ground out by Bino Watters drove in Zimbardo to put the Irish up 2-0. Parker Brzustewicz went the other way with a single through the right side for a two-out RBI single as Tinney came around to score for a 3-0 lead. Dennies struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the third, and Jared Zimbardo tracked down a warning track catch to end the inning to roll the game over to the fourth.
Moreno led off the fourth with a double down the left field line, but the Irish were unable to capitalize on the chance in the inning. The Cardinal got on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of runs to make it a 3-2 game through four.
Jared Zimbardo led off the top of the fifth with a single and stole second to get into scoring position. Carson Tinney punched a single through the five-six hole to put runners on first and third for the Irish. Parker Brzustewicz drew a one-out walk to load the bases. After a Stanford pitching change, Connor Hincks drilled the first pitch of his at-bat down the right field line for a bases-clearing triple to put the Irish ahead 6-2. Moreno then used a sacrifice fly to drive in Hincks to extend the advantage to 7-2. Stanford countered with a run in the bottom of fifth to make it a 7-3 contest.
The Cardinal pushed four runs across the plate in the bottom of the sixth to knot things up at 7-7 heading into the seventh inning.
Carson Tinney would not be denied as the catcher drilled his fourth home…