Stanford's Quinn Mathews throws career-high 156 pitches against Texas
Stanford lefty Quinn Mathews threw a whopping 156 pitches in a complete game against Texas on Sunday night, setting a career high.
Mathews had 16 strikeouts against the Longhorns, propelling the Cardinal to an 8-3 win that kept its season alive. On Monday night, Stanford validated Mathews' amazing effort as the Cardinal won a winner-takes-all game, 7-6, for a Men's College World Series berth at Stanford's Sunken Diamond.
Out of his 18 pitching appearances this season, Mathews threw less than 100 pitches in a game on only three occasions. Mathews threw 85 pitches in five innings in Stanford's season-opening 8-1 loss to Cal State Fullerton. He threw 64 in 1 2/3 innings during a 14-4 loss to Arizona on May 26 and 66 in four innings in a 7-1 NCAA regional win over Texas A&M last week.
Sunday night's game was Mathews' second complete game of his collegiate career, with his first one coming earlier this season in an April 14 matchup at Oregon.
"I knew I wanted the rock," Mathews said about his feat in a postgame interview with ESPN.
“I told’em I was good to go, and they weren’t going to get the rock out of my hand”
- Quinn Mathews after throwing 156 pitches#RoadToOmaha x @StanfordBSB pic.twitter.com/KudzcWaCyc— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) June 12, 2023
Mathews was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 19th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, but opted to return to Stanford for his senior season.
Stanford will face No. 1 overall seed Wake Forest in the Men's College World Series.