Recap: Rintaro Sasaki Grand Slam walks it off for Stanford to sweep No. 8 Florida State
On Sunday, Stanford baseball defeated No. 8 Florida State 7-4 to complete a three-game sweep of the Seminoles. Rintaro Sasaki hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to win the game for the Cardinal and secure the sweep. Brock Ketelsen (3-1) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while Brodie Purcell (3-1) was the losing pitcher for the Seminoles in a relief role. Stanford improves to 21-19 overall and 10-11 in the ACC while Florida State falls to 29-14 overall and 12-9 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Florida State at Stanford-Sunday, April 26th
VIDEO: Stanford’s Rintaro Sasaki hits walk-off grand slam to get sweep over No. 8 Florida State
“Wow, that’s one of those Sunken Diamond moments right there, right?” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “You don’t get those too often, but you know, that’s one to remember. To sweep Florida State at home with the bottom of the 9th grand slam is a pretty big deal. That was a lot of fun for the guys and you know, the game was, God, it was hard. We were swimming upstream the whole game. It’s one of those Sunday games. It just, it’s hard to get things going and it was hard for them, too.
“But, you know, they get a big swing in the 9th and you think that could be it, right? It’s going to be decided by one guy stepping up to do it, but we had about three guys. Four guys step up in that 9th inning, you know, starting with Brady Reynolds with that base hit. He didn’t have very good at-bats then whole day and all of a sudden he comes up with a single in the biggest spot with two strikes. Jimmy Nati, you know, had a great day for us and continued and then I thought, I thought Nolan Stoll, even though in a tough situation, kept his poise, kept his composure, and drew a walk there and set it up for Rintaro’s big at-bat.
“So, you know, and again, our pitching has been doing what it’s been doing. You know, Ketelsen gets his third win in a week. I don’t know if anybody has to get three wins in a week, but he did. So great, great Sunken Diamond moment for sure.”
Nick Dugan got the start on the mound for the Cardinal and he got off to a rough start as he gave up two runs in the top of the 1st inning, though only one of them was earned. With one out, Chase Williams doubled to third base for the Seminoles after which Hunter Carns singled to center field to bring home Williams, which was earned to Dugan.
With two outs, Brody DeLamielleure reached first base via throwing error (E5) as Carns advanced to second base. Dugan threw a wild pitch to advance both runners before another wild pitch brought home Carns and advanced DeLamielleure to third base. Gabe Fraser then got hit by a pitch before Dugan forced a ground out to end the top of the 1st. 2-0 lead for the Seminoles.
Stanford would get on the board in the bottom of the 2nd inning. With two outs, Brady Reynolds reached first base via throwing error (E3), advancing to second base as a result. Jimmy Nati then singled to center field to bring home Reynolds. Luke Lavin then grounded out to end the bottom of the 2nd. 2-1 game.
Dugan would get through the 4th inning, keeping it at a 2-1 game. After a rocky 1st inning, Dugan settled in and ended up putting together a nice performance.
“Great job by him,” Esquer said of Dugan. “You know, of course, I think we helped set up that first inning a little bit. We had a play. We didn’t make a play at short and didn’t make the pick and then it turned into a two-run inning. We’ve done that two or three times this weekend where a defensive play could have created a zero and instead it’s a multiple run inning. And then he kind of settled down and gave us three more innings, which we needed. And you know, to have those senior moments for the guys, you know, to step up and do it.”
“I’d probably say a B grade,” Dugan humbly said of his performance. “I kind of struggled in the first, gave up a few hits, and then, I mean, my slider got me out of it, but it didn’t start off too great, but I finished strong…Yeah, they, before the game, they told me I was going to reach my pitch count no matter what happened. So I was gonna be out there until I wasn’t or until I reached the pitch count. So, I mean, being able to get through four [innings] probably helped out those guys, but I felt confident either way.”
As for the bottom of the 4th, Stanford would add a run to tie it up 2-2:
Charlie Bates would get walked with one out before stealing second base. With two outs, Bates would steal third base. Nati then doubled to right center to bring home Bates. Lavin then struck out swinging to end the inning.
Neither team would score in the 5th inning. However, both teams did change pitchers. Sam Garewal came in to pitch for Stanford, replacing Dugan while Chris Knier replaced Florida State’s starter Bryson Moore.
In the top of the 6th, Florida State added one run as Colt Peterson replaced Garewal on the mound for the Cardinal. Fraser tripled to deep right field to get things going for the Seminoles. With one out, Cal Fisher hit an RBI single to bring home Fraser. Eli Putnam then grounded into a double play to end the top of the inning. 3-2 lead for the Seminoles.
In the top of the 7th inning, Andrew Shaw came in for Peterson. Shaw would not get any outs and so it was on Trevor Moore to keep it a 3-2 game. Moore would come in to replace Shaw and get a strike out before forcing a double play to end the top of the inning. Clutch pitching from Moore.
In the bottom of the 7th, Stanford evened up the game 3-3. With two outs, Lavin doubled down the left field line. Rashad Hayes then came in to pinch run for Lavin. Hayes would advance to third base via wild pitch with Sasaki at the plate. Then, with Sasaki still at the plate, Cade O’Leary threw a second wild pitch to bring home Hayes. That tied the game up 3-3. Stanford would not score any more runs the rest of the inning.
VIDEO: Stanford’s Rashad Hayes scores via wild pitch in Sunday sweep over No. 8 Florida State
“You know, that made the difference, right?” Esquer said of Hayes’ base running. “Scores on a wild pitch because he moves up on a ball in the dirt. And so you know, the guys have been ready. We’ve been lucky, we got some fast guys with Rashad and Philip Cheong and Brock Sell. I mean, they bring a different dynamic to our team, but that’s important.”
“Yeah, I was actually swing and a miss,” Sasaki said of that sequence by Hayes. “But I mean, he’s great, yeah. I mean that’s, I would say like, that’s team baseball. Like, I was gonna grand slam, but before the eight innings, that was actually team baseball right here. The great defense, I mean, to try to get like team offense for…try to get great base running stuff, too. I mean, also like Philip or everyone tried to get a great base running stuff. Yeah, that was amazing for the team.”
Trevor Moore would pitch the top of the 8th for Stanford and not allow any runs, forcing a double play to end the top of the inning. Cade O’Leary would pitch the bottom of the 8th for Florida State and also would not allow any runs. With Philip Cheong in scoring position on second base for Stanford and one out, O’Leary would force a ground out and then strike out to end the bottom of the inning. It went to the 9th inning tied 3-3.
In the top of the 9th, Brock Ketelsen came in to pitch for Moore. Ketelsen would give up a home run to Putnam, who crushed the ball over the left field fence. That made it a 4-3 lead for the Seminoles. To Ketelsen’s credit, he got the next three batters out with two ground outs and a pop up.
In the bottom of the 9th, Stanford was able to rally. Reynolds and Nati hit back-to-back singles after which Stoll was walked. All with no outs. This set up Sasaki with the chance to win the game. On a 2-0 pitch, Sasaki would hit a grand slam over the left field fence to win the game 7-4. As he rounded third base, Sasaki was greeted by his teammates and a cooler of water at home plate. It was sheer jubilation.
“So, yeah, I mean, I didn’t try to get, I mean, big grand slam or something,” Sasaki said. “Just in the show, try to like, fill the gap. Like, something line driver…but finally, it happened over the fence. Yeah, that’s super lucky. Yeah, I think…Great moment I think in my life so far.”
“Oh, it was sick,” Dugan said of Sasaki’s grand slam. “Everyone was so happy. Two [walk-offs] this weekend, right? Two walk-offs this weekend? Yeah, that’s special. It doesn’t happen as often, but it was really cool.”
For Stanford, this is a massive win. This win puts them back in the NCAA tournament mix. They are starting to get things figured out with their pitching and then the bats are waking up from a brief slumber that they had. If they can keep this up, they could be quite dangerous.
“No, I think it’s awesome,” Dugan said of the sweep. “Everyone’s stoked, ready to go on UC Davis, but we’re still gonna remember, like, we gotta takes UC Davis serious, too. So, just getting ready for tomorrow.”
Touching more on Sasaki, this was a neat moment for him. He hasn’t seen a lot of team success during his time on The Farm, making this the most important series of his Stanford career up to this point. He has put in a lot of hard work to become a reliable bat and with that grand slam, it all paid off.
“Yeah, it’s so much fun,” Sasaki said of his grand slam. “I mean, great situation. I mean, I was a little bit nervous for, I mean, yeah, for like, but I mean, when I go into AB, I just become dug out, I mean all boys looking at me. Yeah, now I need to check in and then look at the fans. I mean, yeah, this is the most, I mean, great moment. Gonna be a great moment. I just try it. I just try to best AB. Yeah, that’s gonna happen there.”
“You know what, in those moments, you need to do them a couple times before you start to relax in those moments,” Esquer said of Sasaki’s grand slam. “And I think sometimes, he hasn’t been as relaxed as he needs to be to come through, but hopefully this will do it. He’s done it and he’s capable of doing it and it was a great job by him. I’m really happy for him.”
As for Florida State, getting swept really stings. This very well sinks their chances of hosting a super-regional should they get the chance. Whether it be football, softball, or baseball, the Seminoles have really struggled to win on The Farm. Their football team lost last season and their softball team got swept as well.
“No, but I’m glad it happens, you know? I’m glad it happens,” Esquer said with a laugh about the pattern. “They’re a great team and they’re gonna and they play great home. We caught them here and just caught us playing really well and pretty clutch baseball and caught our pitching staff really getting comfortable in the roles that they’ve had. So, I don’t know what we have for tomorrow, but we’re gonna paste nine innings of pitching probably for tomorrow.”
Up next for Stanford is a home game on Monday, April 27th against UC Davis. That will begin at 6:05 PM PT on ACCNX.
“Yeah, well, we need to back it up with another good weekend,” Esquer said looking to the rest of the season. “You know, that’s the thing about this conference. One good weekend doesn’t do it. You’ll take it and you need them, but it’s consistency and you can’t give it back. You know, you don’t want to give it up, every give back the sweep, so you need to continue to win games.”
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