PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The University of Arizona baseball team captured its first road series victory of the season with a 6-4 win over Stanford at Sunken Diamond on Saturday.
Arizona (18-6, 3-2 Pac-12) claimed the initial lead with a run in the second, surged for three runs in the third and added another run in the fifth for what seemed -- at the time -- to be a comfortable 5-0 advantage for starter Robby Medel.
The right-hander, who allowed a leadoff hit to Tommy Edman in the bottom of the first, cruised through his first four frames by retiring 12 in a row. He ran into trouble in the fifth.
Stanford (9-10, 0-2 Pac-12) scored four times in the fifth after Medel walked Mikey Diekroeger to begin the inning. Designated hitter Austin Barr followed with a double, Jack Klein drove in two with a triple and, following a pitching change, Bryce Carter singled home the fourth run with an infield hit against Austin Schnabel.
Schnabel (2-2) escaped the fifth and went on to pitch 2 1/3 innings with no runs allowed.
Cameron Ming relieved Schnabel in the seventh to retire two batters, then opened the eighth with a walk, prompting the Wildcats to call on closer Bobby Dalbec.
Dalbec surrendered a one-out single, which left runners at the corners, but the righty coaxed Diekroeger into an inning-double play.
In the ninth, Dalbec walked the first batter, but bounced back with a double play and secured his fourth save with a game-ending strikeout of Carter.
Designated hitter Michael Hoard was 2-for-3 and put the Wildcats on the board in the second inning following his leadoff single. Hoard advanced to third on Zach Gibbons' single and scored on ground-ball double play.
Arizona added three runs in the third, which was sparked when Stanford starter Keith Weisenberg walked Justin Behnke, who then stole second and advanced to third on an error. Scott Kingery, who was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs, drove in Behnke with a single.
Weisenberg (1-2) suffered the loss after lasting only 2 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs on six hits and a walk.
After the Cardinal cut the margin to one run in the fifth, Arizona tacked on a key insurance run in the seventh as Behnke stole home straight up with two outs.
The teams wrap up the series Sunday.
NOTES
Arizona secured its first series win over Stanford since 2012. The Wildcats last won a series at Sunken Diamond in 2009. ... Bobby Dalbec extended his season-opening streak for reaching base to 24 games ... Zach Gibbons and Kevin Newman extended their hitting streaks to 12 and 11 games, respectively.
