May 30, 2014

Quantrill, Cardinal Silence Sycamores

By Chris Webb

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

@chrismwebb

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Behind a complete-game four-hitter from freshman right-hander Cal Quantrill, third-seeded Stanford opened the Bloomington Regional Friday by defeating second-seeded Indiana State 8-1.

“The last half of the year he’s been phenomenal,” Stanford coach Mark Marquess said of Quantrill. “With the exception of two starts, two of his 15, he’s given us a chance to win, which is unusual for a freshman.”

Looking to reach its first College World Series since 2008, a youth-filled team of 22 underclassmen leads Stanford’s charge, and it was freshmen that powered the Cardinal (31-23) to victory.

Enjoying a 1-0 lead by way of three consecutive two-out singles in the top of the first, Quantrill found little resistance in the Sycamores’ lineup.

Center fielder Landon Curry singled up the middle on Quantrill’s first pitch of the game. But the Cardinal would go on to retire nine of the next 11 batters faced – only a fielding error and leadoff walk in the fourth, subsequently erased on an inning-ending double play, would be the lone baserunners for ISU (31-23) over the first four innings.

“My fastball was a good, a little bit wild early on so I backed it up with a changeup a lot,” Quantrill said on keeping Indiana State at bay.

From the batter’s box, Indiana State junior right fielder Jacob Hayes experienced Quantrill’s changeup-heavy approach.

“My first at-bat I saw all changeups,” Hayes said. “A right-handed pitcher throwing it to a left-handed hitter, it’s hard to pick up.”

Quantrill was cruising; so too was ISU’s freshman starter, left-hander Ryan Keaffaber.

After surrendering consecutive hits to Alex Blandino, Austin Slater and Zach Hoffpauir with two down in the first, Keaffaber allowed only one hit over the next four innings.

“I think in the first inning I kind of had some butterflies, got behind in counts,” Keaffaber said of his rough first inning being settling in.

Matching Quantrill zero for zero, Keaffaber was able to keep his team in the game through the first five innings. But as the Stanford lineup turned over for a second time, the Cardinal hitters found success off the southpaw.

Back-to-back leadoff singles in front of a Slater sacrifice bunt put two in scoring position. A Hoffpauir walk loaded the bases for catcher Brant Whiting, who lifted a sacrifice fly to left field. The next batter, freshman left fielder Jack Klein, helped Stanford seized control of the contest with a three-run home run to left field, making it a 5-0 game.

“I was just trying to go the opposite way with the way he’d been pitching,” Klein said.

Like Quantrill, Keaffaber relied heavily on his changeup, the offspeed pitch Klein homered on.

“We knew his changeup was a pitch he liked,” Klein said. “He left a changeup up, and I let it get deep enough.”

Keaffaber finished with a six-inning start, allowing five runs off seven hits, walking one with three strikeouts.

Indiana State countered Stanford’s four-run outburst with a tally in the home-half of the sixth.

Reaching first on a leadoff single, Curry scored on a one-out double down the right-field-line by Hayes, who pulled on a 0-2 pitch. Unfortunately for Mitch Hannahs’ team, Hayes would be the lone runner in scoring position until two outs in the ninth as ISU never was able to find traction against Quantrill.

“His breaking ball got much sharper in the middle innings,” Hannahs said. “The inability to crack him in the first three or four innings, allowed him to settle in and get better as the game wore on.”

Four consecutive one-out singles in the ninth allowed Stanford to stake three more runs on the scoreboard, giving the game its final margin.

Three Cardinal batters tallied multi-hit games, led by Klein with a 2-for-3 game. Blandino picked up two hits and scored twice in five at-bats, and Danny Diekroeger also went 2 for 5 as Stanford picked up 11 hits on the afternoon.

Curry was the lone ISU batter with two hits, going 2 for 4 from his leadoff post. Shortstop Tyler Wampler joined Hayes in tallying the lone other ISU hit.

The story of the game, Quantrill finished with a 104-pitch outing, throwing 75 for strikes as he struck out six, walked two.

“He’s just a great competitor, always gives you a chance to win,” Marquess said. “He performed brilliantly, he’s a good one.”

The Cardinal advances to take on Regional host Indiana Saturday at 6 p.m. Indiana State will face Youngstown State in an elimination game at 2 p.m.