Looking back on my time at Stanford, I can confidently say that nothing has shaped my experience as much as The Stanford Daily. And knowing I’m about to leave the place that has determined my career trajectory, given me some of my closest friends and made me into the person I am today scares me more than leaving Stanford itself.
Two years in a row, Stanford hosted Cal State Fullerton in its regional of the NCAA Tournament. Two years in a row, the Titans eliminated nationally-seeded Cardinal teams from postseason contention, won the Stanford Regional and advanced to the Super Regional. Except this year — with one of the best Stanford teams in recent memory, one…
It’s always Fullerton, isn’t it? For two straight years, Fullerton has been the thorn in Stanford’s side in its regional, last year beating the Cardinal twice to eliminate them from the postseason and this year handing Stanford its first loss of the regional on Saturday night. And the loss came about in a particularly painful…
Beau Branton’s breakout season wasn’t supposed to happen.
First-team All-Pac-12 second baseman Duke Kinamon was slotted in to play second this year — until he went down with a groin injury in warmups minutes before the first pitch of the season. Even then, Jesse Kuet got the first crack at taking Kinamon’s place.
But not the last.
Stanford baseball hosts an NCAA Regional after earning a top-16 national seed. The three teams invited to the regional are the Baylor Bears, Cal State Fullerton Titans and Wright State Raiders.
Stanford baseball has earned a national seed for the second year in a row after a historic 2018 season under first-year head coach David Esquer. The No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and the 22-8 conference record speak for themselves, but some of the other numbers that emerged from Stanford’s season tell the story of just how particularly special Stanford’s 2018 regular season was.
Behind a multi-hit effort from three Cardinal hitters, including a 4-for-4, three-RBI performance from senior second baseman Beau Branton, No. 3 Stanford (41-8, 19-6-0 Pac-12) dominated in Game 1 of its final home series of the regular season, earning a 10-1 win against Washington State (15-29-1, 7-17-1) Friday night at Sunken Diamond.
For the second year in a row, No. 3 Stanford (40-8) completed its midweek-game slate undefeated, sealing a 9-0 record in such contests with a 5-1 victory Tuesday afternoon at home against BYU (21-26).
