Stanford baseball sweeps FSU with back-to-back walk-off wins

The energy at Sunken Diamond was electric as Stanford baseball (21-19, 10-11 ACC) swept No. 8 Florida State (29-14, 12-9 ACC) in a series of nail-biting finishes this weekend. While Friday’s game was over by the fifth inning, games two and three of the series saw dramatic Cardinal walk-offs, including a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday to secure the sweep.

“When Florida State comes to town, it’s a big game,” said head coach David Esquer. 

After Florida State put up three runs in the top of the third in Friday’s game, the pressure was on for the Cardinal. However, sophomore shortstop Charlie Bates, junior right fielder Brady Reynolds and senior second baseman Jimmy Nati stepped up to the plate, loading the bases for junior catcher Luke Lavin. 

Lavin’s ground-rule double was the first big hit of the weekend, driving in Bates and Reynolds for two. Junior second baseman Eric Jeon came in with a two-RBI single for the last two runs of the night.

“Lavin’s big hit kind of relaxed everybody down, and we had a chance to score again and got that big two-out hit by Jeon, so I think that was the biggest blow,” said Esquer.

The 4-3 win on Friday night set the tone for the weekend to come.

“Friday night wins are just awesome,” senior pitcher Trevor Moore said. “They’re a good start to the series. They’re good starts with vibes and keep the momentum going.”

The momentum continued into Saturday, beginning with a two-run homer from Reynolds. FSU countered with a four-run top of the third, while Stanford regained the lead after putting up back-to-back two-run innings in the third and fourth. 

By the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinal was trailing 7-6. After a deep blast to left field, it looked like Jeon had evened the game, until FSU’s left fielder robbed the ball just before it exited the park. 

“I knew I got [the ball] decently with the wind blowing everything. I knew it was gonna be tough,” Jeon said. “I was in shock. That’s an unbelievable play by the left fielder, and so I gotta tip my cap but move on because if I dwell on that, I don’t want to take it to defense.”

Nonetheless, a groundout from sophomore first baseman Rintaro Sasaki drove freshman pinch runner Phillip Cheong home to tie the game.

A pitching duel kept the game tied through the eleventh, with freshman pitcher Mike Erspamer’s three-strikeout tenth greatly contributing to Stanford’s “Committee Pitching” rotation. With upwards of five pitchers rotating each game, Stanford’s pitching staff has had to really focus on the few batters they see during their time on the mound.

“You just gotta go out there, have fun with it, and just play your game,” Erspamer said. “Just be a winner. Just do your thing. Stay loose and do whatever it takes to go win the at-bat, win the pitch, beat the guy, don’t beat the spot. It’s just one-on-one.”

Finally, the duel ended when Eric Jeon avenged his robbed homerun with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 11th. 

“The whole thing I wanted to do was to come through for my boys,” Jeon said. “Stanford’s my dream school. . . and I’ve always wanted to hit a walk-off.”

With game two of the series ending 8-7, Stanford baseball’s announcer reminded fans to “bring their brooms” for Sunday’s game. Having clinched the series, the only thing left for the Cardinal to do was to go for the sweep.

And that is exactly what the Cardinal did. While Coach Esquer acknowledged that the team “was swimming upstream” all of Sunday’s game, Stanford baseball battled through each inning, entering the bottom of the ninth trailing by only one run. 

Reynolds kicked off the inning with a single to center field, followed by Nati’s single to left field for his third hit of the day. Freshman catcher Nolan Stoll showcased discipline at the plate by earning a walk to load the bases. 

“Nolan Stoll, even though in a tough situation, kept his poise and his composure and drew a walk there and set it up for Rintaro’s big at-bat,” Esquer said.

With three on and zero outs, Sasaki approached the plate. 

“When I went into the at bat, I just looked at the dugout, all the boys looking at me,” said Sasaki. “I was a little bit nervous at first.”

Knowing exactly what needed to be done, Sasaki found the perfect pitch and drove it to deep left field.

“That was [the most] amazing moment, I think, in my life so far,” Sasaki said.

His grand slam nailed down the sweep against FSU. In the words of Esquer, it was “one of those Sunken Diamond moments” that don’t happen too often. 

Despite all of the helmet throwing and water splashing in celebration, Sasaki remained focused on the Cardinal’s upcoming opponents.

“This is going to be exciting for the next series, but I would say it’s one at a time, one again,” Sasaki said. “That’s going to be what we need to do in the next series.”

After an exciting weekend for Stanford baseball, the Cardinal will return to Sunken Diamond on Monday for a matchup against UC Davis at 6:05 p.m., hoping to capitalize on the momentum they built over the weekend.

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