Stanford baseball eliminated from College World Series on final pitch

Stanford was one out away from advancing in the College World Series. No one was on base and its ace Brandan Beck stood on the mound. The Cardinal could not seal it.

A walk, on a full count, a single, an error and a wild pitch ended the game and season for Stanford, which fell to Vanderbilt 6-5 on Wednesday in Omaha.

“Our hearts are hurting for these kids because they wanted to continue to play with each other,” Stanford coach David Esquer said. “There’s some tears out there just because they care so much.”

The Cardinal (39-17) seemed headed to the bracket finale against North Carolina State. Beck, who took over in the bottom of the seventh, struck out five of the first batters he faced and then got the first two outs of the bottom of the ninth.

Beck got ahead of the next batter, but then missed with three straight pitches to put the tying run on base. The next batter beat out an infield single and both runners advanced on a throwing error.

A sharp single tied the game and sent the winning run to third. Beck lost his grip on a 2-0 pitch and the ball skipped past catcher Kody Huff.

It was a cruel ending to an otherwise successful season. Stanford was tabbed to finish ninth in the Pac-12 and wound up in third place.

The Cardinal was awarded the ninth overall seed and hosted a regional, which it won. Stanford beat host Texas Tech in two games to qualify for the College World Series.

Stanford was the last Pac-12 team standing after it eliminated Arizona on Monday.

Brock Jones collected three hits, including a home run, and drove in three runs for Stanford. Eddie Park also drove in a run and Tim Tawa and Nick Brueser each had two hits.

“Obviously it hurts,” Jones said. “This is not where we wanted it to end. We were so close but I’m so proud of this team. Each of every one of them, we all worked for this. We deserved to be here. It’s been a heck of a year for us.”

Vanderbilt (47-16) advances to play undefeated North Carolina State, which has to be beaten twice, in the bracket finale.

Stanford caught a break, scoring an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Jones lined out to the Vanderbilt second baseman, who then threw the ball away trying to double up Park, who came around to score after reaching base on an infield error leading off the game.

Jones homered with one out in the third, his 18th home run of the season. Stanford added two more runs in the fourth, both unearned, when Park walked with the bases loaded and Jones beat out an infield single.

“It’s every baseball kid’s dream to come here,” Jones said. “I’m proud of some of the things I did and I’m proud of some of the things the team did. But you can always do more. Next year, we’re going to go further.”

Quinn Mathews went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out five. Two of the runs scored after Mathews left the game, with one out and two runners on in the sixth.

Vanderbilt scored a pair on a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth. After Jones’ doubled home a run in the sixth, the Commodores added another pair to make it 5-4.

Stanford loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth but could not take advantage as Vanderbilt used three pitchers in the frame.

Palo Alto Sports Online on Facebook

By Rick Eymer

By Rick Eymer

By Rick Eymer

By Rick Eymer