The Pac-12 might need to rename the Pitcher of the Week Award to the Jace Stoffal Award.
For the second week in a row, Oregon’s Friday night starter absolutely stifled a Pac-12 team, this time being Stanford, as the Ducks defeated the No. 7 Cardinal 4-0 at PK Park.
With the win, the Ducks moved to 23-9 on the season and 8-5 in the conference, while Stanford dropped to 22-10 and 10-3 in Pac-12 action.
Stoffal needed 118 pitches in the complete-game shutout win as he struck out eight Cardinal hitters and just three hits. It was just the second time this season Stanford didn’t plate a run.
On the other side of the plate, Oregon smacked three home runs to account for all of its runs. Colby Shade hit a solo shot in the third to put the Ducks on the board and later in that inning, Jacob Walsh hit a two-run homer for the 3-0 lead.
Drew Cowley added a solo homer of his own in the sixth, which was a bomb to dead center field to make it 4-0. But with how Stoffal was pitching, the Ducks didn’t need the insurance run.
Oregon did see the record books change as Tanner Smith’s double in the sixth inning was his 59th career two-bagger and he now holds the program record.
These two teams will get at it tomorrow at 2 pm as Logan Mercado (2-0, 6.75 ERA) goes up against Stanford’s Matt Scott (5-0, 2.08 ERA).