Huskies Make Loud Statement, Shutout No. 3 Stanford, 7-0

Thursday, May 24

Seattle, WA

7:00 PM

University of Washington

29-22, 0

Stanford

43-9, 0

Stanford

Washington

Levi Jordan had three hits on Thursday, including a three-run home run in the first inning.

Huskies Make Loud Statement, Shutout No. 3 Stanford, 7-0

May 24, 2018 | Baseball

Box Score

By: Brian Tom

SEATTLE – With post-season hopes on the line for the Washington, the Huskies jumped out early on No. 3 Stanford and went on to shutout the visiting Cardinal, 7-0, Thursday night at Husky Ballpark in game one of a three-game series.

Washington (29-22, 19-9 Pac-12) scored three runs in the first inning on a Levi Jordan home run and never looked back. Three UW pitchers combined to shutout Stanford's (43-9, 21-7) potent offense.

Both teams have a lot to play for this weekend. Stanford is one win away from sewing up the Pac-12 title and Washington is considered by many to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble. The win moved the Huskies to 19 Conference victories on the season, sole-possession of third in the Pac-12 standings and in a prime position to get off the proverbial bubble.

Washington came out swinging in the first inning and chased Stanford starter Erik Miller before the inning was over. Mason Cerrillo led off with a double and Nick Kahle walked with one out. After Miller caught red-hot Joe Wainhouse looking for the second out, Jordan jumped on the first pitch he saw and sent it the opposite way over the right field fence for a three-run home run.

It was Jordan's seventh long-ball of the season and came in his 200^th game as a Husky. He ended up with a strong night at the plate (3-for-4, HR, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R) and was equally stellar on defense, making several outstanding plays at shortstop.

After Miller walked AJ Graffanino, his night was done and forced the Cardinal to dip into their bullpen after only two outs were recorded.

"When ever you can score early and put pressure on the other team, it's is a huge thing," Coach Lindsay Meggs said after the Huskies won for the eighth time in 10 games. "They have a lot to play for, just like we do. You get down early, especially to a team like us that has been swinging the bats really well lately, it adds some pressure, which was very helpful for us."

The Huskies took a 4-0 lead in the third on a lead-off home run by Wainhouse off Austin Weiermiller. It was Wainhouse's team-leading 14^th homer of the season – his eighth in 12 May games and gave him 50 runs batted.

Meanwhile, Lucas Knowles was cruising on the hill for the Huskies. He confounded Stanford's offense through five innings until he ran into trouble in the sixth inning. After Knowles recorded the first out, he allowed back-to-back singles and his day was done after getting a fly out for the second out. Alex Hardy came in and struck out Stanford cleanup hitter Andrew Daschbach for the third out to preserve Washington's four-run advantage.

Knowles ended up having his second-consecutive outstanding outing, shutting out Stanford and scattering six hits over 5 2/3 innings. The red-shirt freshman struck out six and did not walk a batter to improve to 5-5 on the season.

Hardy followed Knowles with two strong innings of relief and Friday's announced starter, Joe DeMers, recorded the final four outs to pick up his second save of the season.

The Huskies added three insurance runs in the eighth inning to go up 7-0. Jonathan Schiffer hit a two-run single with two outs, and Cerrillo followed with his third hit of the game for the final tally of the game.

Washington outhit Stanford, 9-7, with Cerrillo and Jordan's three hits leading the charge.

The Huskies and Cardinal resume the three-game series on Friday, with Jordan Jones now taking the hill for Diamond Dawgs. First pitch is at 7:00 p.m. and the game will be aired on the Pac-12 Network.