On Monday, Stanford baseball defeated Washington 7-3, completing a four game sweep of the Huskies. Stanford right-handed pitcher Ben Reimers (1-0) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while Washington left-handed pitcher Bradley Gilbert (0-1) was the losing pitcher for the Huskies in a starting role. Stanford 3rd baseman Trevor Haskins was once again the top offensive player for the Cardinal going 2-5 for one home run and two RBIs while 1st baseman Rintaro Sasaki went 3-5 for two RBIs. Stanford improves to 8-0 on the season while Washington falls to 2-6.
BOX SCORE: Washington at Stanford-Monday, February 24th
“Yeah, you know, I think it was an opportunity really to come out and you know, four game series, last game of the series, last game of the series, we’ve won three already, I think it was an opportunity to really show what we’re made of a little bit, right?” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “Because they’re gonna come out desperate, they’re gonna come out fighting to win, and there’s no reason as they played three games just like we did that we should come out tired or any less intensity. I thought our guys did a great job coming out with the mentality to win the game rather than, you know, just expect it. Just expect it.”
Stanford never trailed in this game, leading wire to wire. In the bottom of the 1st inning, they added two runs thanks to RBI singles from Jimmy Nati and Brady Reynolds. Both of those RBIs came with two outs, which was pretty impressive.
And then in the bottom of the 2nd inning, Stanford added two more runs to lead 4-0 as Brandon Larson lined out to left field to bring home Charlie Bates after which Rintaro Sasaki hit an RBI single to bring home Trevor Haskins with two outs.
After neither team scored in the 3rd inning, the top of the 4th inning was a little shaky for Stanford. Stanford starting pitcher Parker Warner loaded up the bases with one out, forcing him to come out. Ben Reimers came in for relief and was able to force a double play to end the top of the inning.
“Yeah, I thought he was a great tone set for us,” Esquer said of Warner, who gave up zero earned runs in 3.1 innings pitched. “Especially early. We scored a couple runs and I thought he set the tone pretty well with a couple quick innings. Overall the pitching staff has, you know, our bullpen, the options we have to go in the bullpen to kind of stem the tide and Ben Reimers again, I’ve been singing his praises, but he did it again. He came in, bases loaded, double play ball, and then held him for another inning and he did a great job.”
“I think it’s just being confident in myself and the work that I put in,” Warner said of the key to stepping into a starting role as a freshman. “Really my whole life and especially like in the fall how much I’ve improved and just really being confident in myself and the stuff that I have and then just going out there and being myself...My changeup was working well for me. I made a few adjustments from last week and was able to throw some good ones today.”
In the bottom of the 4th, Rintaro Sasaki hit his second RBI single of the afternoon to bring home Tatum Marsh. As a result, Stanford had a commanding 5-0 lead at the end of the 4th inning.
In the top of the 8th inning, Washington was able to add three runs to put a little pressure on Stanford, but then in the bottom of the 8th, Haskins hit a two-run bomb to left field to bring home Marsh, making it a 7-3 game. That sucked the life out of Washington.
“Yeah, you know what, and again, give them credit, they weren’t just gonna let us win, right?” Esquer said of Washington. “They were gonna keep fighting. It’s the eighth inning, they scored three runs, and the game could get a little tight and you know, put up a couple runs in there to create some separation, which makes the ninth inning a lot easier. So I think our team responded well to a little challenge late in the game, so that was good.”
“Not trying to do too much, it’s trying put barrels behind balls, swinging at good pitches,” Haskins said of his hitting success this season. “You know, just get the next guy up. I know if I’m able to get on base, I have a whole bunch of dudes behind me like Larson, like Rintaro, like Saum who are gonna come back and you know, square balls up. So just try to be a lead off to put balls forward and get on base for the guys behind me and not do too much.”
In the top of the 9th inning, Toran O’Harran, who came to pitch in the top of the 8th inning for Sam Garewal, was able to close it out. 7-3 was the final score as Stanford got the win and series sweep.
“Sam Garewal, that’s another guy that just his second outing and he gave us a solid outing,” Esquer said. “Which shows us we got something left-handed in the bullpen. And I give Toran O’Harran credit. You know, they touched him for a, they put a big swing on him and I thought it was, it said a lot that to make sure he doesn’t just pitch. Disappointed after giving one up. Maybe your perfect outing is over with. You could start feeling sorry for yourself, but we needed him. We needed him to go another inning and he did that for us. I thought that was big growth and a lesson for a lot of our guys who they may give up a hit or two and still have to pitch.
“He [O’Harran] has done a great job. He’s kind of set up the close for Keenan and then today he shows he could finish the game, too. I think we got those options right between Aiden Keenan and Toran O’Harran and Ty Uber and Trevor Moore. We have a few guys who have gotten the 27th out for us and I think we’re gonna need a few of them during the season.”
For Stanford, it’s not just the win that’s impressive. It’s the series sweep and 8-0 start. They are on fire right now. They’re winning in a variety of ways. High scoring games, low scoring games, you name it. They’re just doing what’s needed to win and that’s the mark of a good team.
Of course, the hero of the series was Trevor Haskins, who was rightfully named ACC Player of the Week. He had four home runs in the series, one in each game. He’s remained modest through it all, but he really is balling out right now.
“ACC Player of the Week? Oh, that’s my first time hearing. That’s my first time hearing about it, but I mean now I’m kind of a loss for words,” Haskins said of receiving the weekly honor. “That’s exciting. I wish I could split it with all the boys. Because I mean, when we were able to pull off some of these wins this weekend, it was pretty crazy. It was comeback wins. It was yesterday. I wish I could split it with the boys, but that’s my first time hearing about it. That’s pretty crazy. I’m super thankful. Super grateful.”
“Four in four is a great run,” Esquer said of Haskins. “And man, we’ve been playing such good defense behind our pitching and to have some offense like that behind it as well. There’s some guys that still haven’t hit their stride yet. I think we’re putting a lot of barrels on it, which is great, and we had a lot of barrels today with you know, nothing to show for, which is still, which is fine. So I think the consistency I’m pretty happy with offensively.”
Up next for Stanford is a four-game home series against Xavier. Game one will be on Friday at 2:05 PM PT. The series will air on ACCNX.
“One is not to take your foot off the gas,” Esquer said of preparing for Xavier. “Really, as I keep preaching to them. Like, you know, day in and day out, we’ve gotta prepare ourselves to play a nameless, faceless opponent. It doesn’t matter what their record is, what their name is, they’re all the same, we’re playing against the game of baseball. And so, that we can keep preparing ourselves to take on whatever game shows up with whatever opponent, we gotta be prepared for that.”
“It’s great to get the sweep,” Parker Warner added. “Good to improve a little bit from my last outing and just keep getting better and keep moving forward towards the next series against Xavier.”
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