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Charlie Bates hit a go-ahead triple for the Cardinal. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/p>\nCharlie Bates hit a go-ahead triple for the Cardinal. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Stanford baseball defeated Cal State Fullerton at home by a final score of 3-2. Stanford righty Trevor Moore (1-0) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role, pitching 2.1 innings with four strikeouts and zero earned runs while righty Toran O\u2019Harran (1) was awarded the save, closing out the game in the 9th inning with two strikeouts. Cal State Fullerton lefty Brady Dockan was the losing pitcher for the Titans in a relief role, pitching 1.1 innings while allowing two hits and one run, which was earned. Stanford improves to 4-4 on the season while Cal State Fullerton falls to 3-5.<\/p>\n
BOX SCORE: Cal State Fullerton at Stanford-Sunday, February 22nd<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHey good win. You know, if it was hockey we had a whole line change there around the 5th or 6th inning,\u201d Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. \u201c We got kinda tired of looking at the same thing, which is, you know, just either mentally tired or just, you know, just beating down a little bit or a baseball got that first line. The guys who came in did a great job, gave us some energy, some at bats, and it was great. It was great. I thought Parker Warner pitched fine and well, and obviously with Trevor Moore behind him and Toran O\u2019Harran. Just a couple blips. I think that\u2019s the only\u2026we wild pitched both their runs in. I don\u2019t think had a swing for any of their runs.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, it\u2019s a good win. We\u2019re still in that learning process trying to figure out and we\u2019re going to be a better offensive team, I hope. I believe that. I believe in our offensive players, but it was a little bit of a pillow fight for three days.\u201d<\/p>\n Righty Parker Warner got the start for Stanford, pitching 5.2 innings and giving up just two runs (one earned), six hits, and striking out six batters. The first run that was given up came in the top of the 1st inning. With Nick Miller on second base and Cameron Kim on third base after a throwing error (E1) by Warner, Warner would then throw a wild pitch, bringing home Kim and advancing Miller to third base. Warner would force a pop up to end the top of the 1st inning, leaving it at a 1-0 game.<\/p>\n The 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings remained scoreless as Fullerton maintained a 1-0 lead entering the 6th inning. In the top of the 6th, Fullerton would add one more run to go up 2-0. Kim would single to left center after which Miller singled to right center, advancing Kim to third base. Warner would throw another wild pitch, bringing home Kim and advancing Miller to second base. Almost a d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu of the 1st inning. Miller would end up get caught stealing home to end the top of the 6th, keeping it at a 2-0 game.<\/p>\n \u201cGot to play cleaner, you know?\u201d Esquer said of his team. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a sign of a mature team is when you play cleaner, you don\u2019t make those little mistakes, it costs you, costs you runs or bases or at-bats, which it all leads into more pitches and, but I thought at times we pitched very well this weekend and we made it hard on them to score. We just couldn\u2019t do enough. Maybe the conditions weren\u2019t great for, I don\u2019t think we hit one home run the whole weekend. I think, you know, if you\u2019re Stanford and you only hit one home run on a weekend, four game series, you\u2019re not playing your game, necessarily, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n In the bottom of the 6th, Stanford would even it up with two runs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Eric Jeon got walked to bring home Charlie Bates while Philip Cheong advanced to third base and Rashad Hayes advanced to second base. Righty Jason Krakoski was on the mound for the Titans, coming in for righty Bobby Mahoney. \u00a0Right after that, Cheong would score on a passed ball, tying up the game 2-2. Stanford wouldn\u2019t add any more runs the rest of the inning, keeping it a tie game entering the 7th inning.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a solid player, really,\u201d Esquer said of Jeon. \u201cAnd we trust him at a number of positions, you know, and he swings the bat well. And so, the fact that he walked there, it was a lot of it was respect to him. They weren\u2019t just gonna throw him a cookie in there. They\u2019re trying to pitch him tough and so he\u2019ll help us down the line for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRashad\u2019s getting better,\u201d Esquer said of Hayes. \u201cHe\u2019s a short stop. It\u2019s you know, waiting for an opportunity, but you know, obviously Charlie\u2019s going to be the starter and Rashad has to be ready in case something happens. But he comes to work every day, plays hard, and he plays with energy, which is great.\u201d<\/p>\n In the top of the 7th inning, Moore remained on the mound for Stanford after having closed out the top of the 6th inning, replacing Warner. Moore would only give up a single while also getting two strike outs and a flyout. That kept it tied 2-2 entering the bottom of the 7th inning.<\/p>\n In the bottom of the 7th, Stanford would get the run they needed to win the game. Teddy Tokheim singled to left field after which Cort MacDonald hit a sacrifice bunt to the catcher, advancing Tokheim to second base. Charlie Bates then hit a triple to right center, bringing home Tokheim.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember talking to a couple of lefties who had faced him in the inning before and you know, they gave me the utmost confidence and you know, that\u2019s just a team effort right there,\u201d Bates said of his triple. \u201cI was glad that I was able to come through, but I was just looking for a fastball early in the count and that\u2019s what I got. So, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n After the triple, Bates was called out at third base for the second out. Cheong then flied out to left field to end the bottom of the inning. It was bit of mixed emotions for Bates to have a huge go-ahead triple while also getting out on the same play.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, you can\u2019t get too down because we have a lot of baseball left to play,\u201d Bates said of that sequence. \u201cObviously, it was a mistake on, you know, my behalf and I\u2019ll learn from it. I won\u2019t make the same one again, obviously, but again, yeah, you have to keep the same kind of demeanor as you go into the dugout and just happy that we got a run across and we\u2019ll learn from it.\u201d<\/p>\n From there, 3-2 would end up being the final score as neither team would score the rest of the game. Stanford pulled out the win. In the top of the 9th inning, Toran O\u2019Harran did a great job of closing the door on the Titans, getting a strikeout, fly out, giving up a single, walking a batter, and then getting a strike out looking to end the game. There was a little bit of a drama, with two outs and a runner in scoring position, but O\u2019Harran did what was needed to shut the door for good.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, just relying on my defense, knowing what we\u2019ve been working on all fall and winter, right?\u201d O\u2019Harran said of the key to the save. \u201cExecuting that game plan and allowing them to hit the ball and put it in play and let my defense get them out\u2026Yeah, I think just being in zone more. I have had a already early, but we\u2019ll clean it up and I just think, you know, the more you\u2019re in zone, the harder it is on the offense to hit you. So that\u2019s pretty much been the main focus coming into this year.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, this was a good win for the Cardinal. Especially since the pitching was able to do their job. There is high confidence in the offense of the team but there are some questions about the pitching. Assuming the offense is able to step it up, the pitching seems good enough to keep the Cardinal in a lot of games. Parker Warner is a big part of that.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you know what, I\u2019ll be honest, the thing that clicks is one, the one walk that\u2019ll show you that he doesn\u2019t repeat his miss three or four times,\u201d Esquer said of Warner. \u201cHe can make, you know, one or two pitch adjustments to get back in the zone and that\u2019s going to be everything for him that he can just minimize those mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I think it really comes down to a mentality thing,\u201d O\u2019Harran said of the key to their strong pitching. \u201cI think we, the last few years we haven\u2019t been as good as we wanted to be and I think coming into this year, it\u2019s been a complete mentality shift of we\u2019re not gonna wait for things to happen. We\u2019re gonna go make it happen. I think it\u2019s bled into our performance so far and hopefully into the future as well\u2026Yeah, just be gritty [pitching coach Thomas Eager\u2019s message] and then you know, win your 1-1 counts and there\u2019s like, these little sayings that we\u2019ve kind of installed in the staff to, you know, slow the game down and honestly make it feel like a step easier for everyone.<\/p>\n \u201cI think last year we were really young. I think we\u2019re much older this year, so the game is much slower for us, I think. And now we\u2019re gonna continue to make it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n One thing that that definitely helps the pitching is having Charlie Bates over at short stop. Short stop is his natural position, but last season he had to play in the outfield. He\u2019s certainly happy to be back home in the infield.<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like being home again,\u201d Bates said of being at short stop. \u201cI love it. I was glad that I was able to help us out in the outfield lats year, but I will say that it definitely feels nice to be back at short stop\u2026I think definitely staying pitch to pitch in the infield [is the biggest adjustment back to short stop]. Especially at short stop, there\u2019s a lot going on, a lot of moving parts in the defense that we run here and so, you really have to make sure that everyone is in the right place, whereas in the outfield it was a lot more just running the ball down, which is obviously a good time. But I love being really involved in the game and being able to make a bit difference like that at short stop.\u201d<\/p>\n All season long, Stanford will be honoring the late Mark Marquess, who was the head coach of the program from 1977-2017. The team is wearing number nine patches with a number nine decal on the outfield wall. To cap off the weekend with a win to even up a series was a nice way to honor him given how much he preached about not giving up and never allowing yourself to get swept or lose a series.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s honestly been, not having been here when he was here, you know, it\u2019s tough to sometimes understand the impact someone has,\u201d O\u2019Harran said of honoring Marquess. \u201cAnd just over the last three or four weeks, we\u2019ve had so many alumni come back and just tell some of the amazing stories and it really, it really puts in perspective how much bigger that Stanford is than just this team. It\u2019s really just a whole, it\u2019s a whole bunch of guys who have been through the exact same thing we have and just honoring them and honoring it into the future as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Up next for Stanford is a home exhibition game against Waseda University from Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. That will be on Wednesday at 3:30 PM PT on ACCNX.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, it\u2019s gonna be great,\u201d Esquer said of the exhibition. \u201cYou know, they\u2019ll come in and getting Rintaro a chance to play against them. And it\u2019s an exhibition and we get some other guys a chance to play. But they\u2019ll be good. You know, the play a very disciplined brand of baseball. It\u2019ll be fun to watch how they prepare and go about their business.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I mean, that\u2019ll be sort of kind of like a light-hearted scrimmage,\u201d Bates added. \u201cObviously we want to come away with a win. So, I think it\u2019ll be good to make some adjustments on Monday, Tuesday, and then be able to see how those play into our offense going into Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n CardinalSportsReport.com<\/a> on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Bluesky: @StanfordRivals<\/p>\n Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube, & Bluesky: @slamdunk406<\/p>\n