On Monday, No.2 Stanford baseball fell to Auburn by a final score of 6-2, ending their College World Series run. Trace Bright (5-4) was the winning pitcher for Auburn in a starting role while Blake Burkhalter (16) picked up the save. Quinn Mathews (9-2) was the losing pitcher for Stanford in a relief role.
Stanford got off to a strong start in this game. Drew Dowd got the nod on the mound to start the game for the Cardinal and got three quick outs in the top of the 1st inning. In the bottom of the 1st, Brock Jones hit a lead-off single. After Carter Graham struck out swinging, Jones stole second base during Brett Barrera’s at-bat. Barrera then doubled to right center, bringing home Jones. Braden Montgomery and Kody Huff then flied out to end the inning. 1-0 Stanford lead.
In the top of the 2nd, Auburn once again failed to score a run as Dowd had another strong inning. With two outs, Cole Foster hit a double down the left field line, but the next batter Kason Howell popped up to Dowd to end the top of the inning. In the bottom of the 2nd, Tommy Troy hit a double to left field with one out. Eddie Park then grounded out to second base to advance Troy to third base. With two outs, Adam Crampton doubled down the left field line to bring home Troy. Jones then struck out swinging to end the inning. 2-0 Stanford lead.
The next three innings would be scoreless for both teams as Stanford led 2-0 at the end of the 5th. Mathews came in for Dowd in the 5th inning after Dowd gave up a double to Brooks Carlson after which Foster was walked. Mathews would get three straight outs to get Stanford out of that jam. In the bottom of the 5th, Park singled to right field and was advanced to second base after Crampton grounded out to first base. Park would then steal third base during the at-bat of Jones. Jones and Graham would then strike out, failing to bring home Park.
In the top of the 6th inning, Auburn’s offense came alive. Mike Bello and Blake Rambusch hit back-to-back singles with no outs after which Brody Moore flied out to center field for the first out. Sonny DiChiara then got hit by a pitch to load up the bases. With the bases loaded, Mathews then walked Bobby Peirce to make it a 2-1 game. Carlson would strike out swinging in the next at-bat for the second out. With two outs, Foster hit a double to center field to bring in all three runners on base. Howell would then hit a single up the middle to advance Foster to third base before Nate LaRue flied out to center field to end the top of the inning. Auburn now led 4-2.
In the bottom of the 6th inning, Tommy Sheehan came in to pitch for Bright and did a great job. Outside of walking Montgomery, he struck out Brett Barrera, Kody Huff, and Drew Bowser. Auburn continued to keep the Cardinal offense in check.
In the top of the 7th, Auburn’s offense continued to find its groove. Bello got walked to lead things off after which Bryson Ware came in to pinch run for Bello. Rambusch then hit a double to left field, advancing Ware to third base. Moore then flied out to left center to bring home Ware. In the next at-bat, DiChiara would fly out to right field without advancing any runners. Then, Peirce doubled to left center to bring home Rambusch. The inning ended with the next at-bat as Carlson popped up to first base. 6-2 Auburn lead.
In the bottom of the 7th with two outs, Crampton hit a double for Stanford after which Jones got hit by a pitch. Graham then hit a single to left field to load up the bases. At this point, Auburn took out Sheehan and brought in Burkhalter to get the final out with Barrera now at the plate. Barrera would strike out swinging, failing to bring in one runner. It remained a 6-2 Auburn lead at the end of the 7th inning.
In previous games, we have seen Stanford make late rallies to win, but this was not one of those games. Stanford would fail to score in both the 8th and 9th inning. The only hitter who got on base was Crampton, who hit a single that ricocheted off Burkhalter with two outs in the 9th. Jones would then foul out to third base, near the Stanford dug out, to end the game. 6-2 was the final score.
For Stanford, an amazing run to the College World Series ended in a whimper. The offense was inert both games, scoring just two runs in each game. Against Arkansas, they got mauled 17-2 and against Auburn, while not losing nearly as bad, the pitching once again put them behind. At some point, your offense is going to have days when it doesn’t go bananas and when those days happen, the pitching/defense needs to step up. While the offense rightfully deserves some blame for how things went in Omaha, the pitching was really the bigger issue. Though it should be noted that Drew Dowd had a strong outing.
At this point, Stanford has to look towards next season and see if they can find a way to get back to Omaha for a third straight year. Junior center fielder Brock Jones is projected to be a first round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, so odds are good he’s gone. It’s also unlikely senior right-handed pitcher Alex Williams comes back for a 5th year. We’ll also have to see what junior catcher Kody Huff decides. He is projected to go in the early rounds if he were to leave after this year, though he could come back and see if he can boost his stock to the first round in 2023. Junior Quinn Mathews, I would guess will be back, but he’s another guy who could in theory leave. The other juniors who could leave if they wanted to (e.g. Barrera and Crampton) I would expect to be back.
Regardless of how the draft shakes out, Stanford will still have a good chunk of their offense back next season. The offense should be fire once again. The question will be the pitching. If they can figure out how to have a more reliable bullpen and all-around pitching staff, they could win a game or more in Omaha next year. If not, the best case scenario is likely what we saw this year.
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