STARKVILLE, Miss. – No. 4 Stanford’s 2019 campaign wrapped up on Sunday night with an 8-1 defeat at No. 3 Mississippi State in the Starkville Super Regional at Dudy Noble Field.
Stanford took the early lead when Kyle Stowers led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run, but Mississippi State plated eight unanswered, including three in the top of the ninth after Jack Little kept the Cardinal in it with 4.2 stellar innings, putting the game out of reach. After Stowers’ home run, Stanford did not register a hit until the bottom of the seventh inning as Stanford dropped the series, 2-0, in its 11th-ever Super Regional appearance.
“I’m so proud of my team to have made it this far,” said the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. “It’s a game of inches and on top of our offense struggling, things just didn’t go our way this week. To make it this far and to battle this Mississippi State to the end makes me so proud, and I wish Mississippi State the best of luck in Omaha.”
The Cardinal (45-13-0) started strong, taking a 1-0 lead after the first inning. Starting pitcher Erik Miller struck out two during a one-two-three top half and Stowers parked one in the left-centerfield bleachers to lead off the home half and give Stanford the lead.
In the second inning, Miller navigated around a pair of walks for another scoreless frame, picking up two more strikeouts along the way. The Bulldogs (51-13-0) got on the board in the top of the third with its first run of the evening coming on a bases-loaded walk. The next hitter, Justin Foscue, tripled off the wall in right center to clear the bases and make it 4-1 before Jacob Palisch entered to get the final out.
Stanford went away quietly in the bottom of the third before the Bulldogs padded their lead in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-1 after Zach Grech relieved Palisch. Little took over for Grech, getting a pop-out for the final out.
The Cardinal squandered a scoring opportunity in the home half with Kinamon thrown out attempting to steal third for the final out. Little matched with a scoreless inning of his own, picking up a strikeout along the way to keep Stanford within four. Stanford went away in order in the fifth before Little tossed another perfect frame, adding two more strikeouts in the top of the sixth. In the seventh, Little picked up another strikeout amidst a scoreless inning, upping his total to four after 3.1 shutout frames.
In the bottom half, Tim Tawa lined a two-out single into left field for Stanford’s first hit since Stowers’ lead-off home run in the first inning. Pinch hitter Christian Molfetta followed him with another single but Christian Robinson grounded out to end the inning.
Little continued to mow down the Bulldogs, pitching around a one-out double in the top of the eighth before picking up his career-high fifth strikeout and getting an inning-ending ground ball. Little got the first out of the ninth before making way for Will Matthiessen with runners at the corners and one out. Elijah MacNamee, the first hitter Matthiessen faced, blasted a three-run home run to deepen Stanford’s hole. The Cardinal went away in order in the bottom of the ninth, finishing the season 3-1 in elimination games.
Cardinal Notes
- Stanford’s 14 losses tie for the third-fewest in program history while its 45 wins tie for the 13th-best total in program history.
- The Cardinal’s .763 win percentage is the fifth-best in program history.
- Stanford has lost just two series on the season, to No. 1 UCLA and at No. 3 Mississippi State.
- The Cardinal lost consecutive games just three times in 2019.
- Stanford has hit 72 home runs in its last 35 games with 88 on the season.
- The paid attendance was listed at 11,597.
