OMAHA, Neb. - The No. 8 seed Stanford Cardinal (44-19) took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning, but could not hang on and fell 3-2 to the No. 1 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (53-10) Saturday in the third game of the 2023 College World Series from Charles Schwab Field Omaha.
Stanford, which scored in the first inning against Wake Forest's Rhett Lowder and led 2-1 after three, looked to be in control of the game before a weather delay due to lightning in the area sent the teams into the locker rooms for an hour and 28 minutes with two outs in the top of the seventh.
Drew Dowd, who pitched scoreless fifth and sixth innings, had thrown just 24 pitches but did not return after the lengthy delay. Freshman Nick Dugan contributed a scoreless seventh, but walked the leadoff man in the eighth to start the momentum for Wake Forest. Left-hander Ryan Bruno entered and walked the next man to put two aboard with nobody out. The Demon Deacons bunted the runners along, setting the table for the go-ahead two-RBI single from Danny Corona that proved to be the game winner. The single was Wake Forest's lone hit with runners in scoring position on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Carter Graham led the way offensively for the Cardinal, going 3-for-4 in the ballgame with two doubles and an RBI-single that put the Cardinal on top in the third. Sophomore Temo Becerra compiled a noteworthy performance at the dish as well, going 2-for-4 with a double. Junior Tommy Troy also chipped in, going 2-for-4 with a walk.
Stanford stranded nine runners on base and was picked off twice - the second of which preceded a double off the wall from Graham in the seventh with the score 2-1 in favor of the Cardinal.
UP NEXT
The Cardinal will now face the loser of LSU and Tennessee in an elimination game on Monday at 11 a.m. PT. on ESPN.
GAME NOTES (COMPILED BY THE EXCELLENT STAFF AT CREIGHTON FOR THE COLLEGE WORLD SERIES)
» Stanford is making its 19th all-time MCWS appearance, tied for the seventh-most ever and tied with LSU for the most of any 2023 MCWS participant.
» Stanford is 41-34 all-time in MCWS play ... the 41 wins are sixth-most ever while the 75 games played are tied for seventh-most ever ... the .547 win percentage is 13th-best ever among those with 20 games played.
» Stanford is now 12-7 all-time in its opening game of a MCWS appearance.
» Stanford had been 3-0 all-time against the No. 1 national seed since seeding began in 1999, beating Cal State Fullerton twice in 2001 and topping Miami (Fla.) in 2008 prior to today.
» This is Stanford's third consecutive MCWS appearance after not having been in Omaha from 2009-2020 ... the Cardinal are the fourth Pac-12 team to make three straight trips to Omaha, joining Stanford (1999-2003), USC (1970-74) and Oregon State (2005-07).
» Stanford is 1-5 all-time at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, scoring 14 runs in its one win and a combined 15 runs in its five losses.
» David Esquer is 2-7 all-time as a head coach in the MCWS.
» Including eight punchouts today, Stanford pitching has struck out a program-record 661 batters this season, far ahead of the previous mark of 605 in 1999.
» The Cardinal are now 5-8 this year when being held without a home run.
» Stanford has scored exactly two runs in each of its last three MCWS games, all losses, and has dropped four straight in Omaha.
» Stanford fell to 27-6 this year when scoring first and 16-9 when scoring in the first inning.
» Today marked Stanford's fourth straight MCWS game in which it scored in the first inning, but it's lost all four of those contests.
» The top three hitters in Stanford's line-up went 6-for-13 at the plate with two runs scored, while the rest of the lineup was 3-for-21 and didn't score.
» Braden Montgomery extended his team-leading on-base streak to 27 with a walk in the first inning.
» Temo Becerra, who had three multi-hit games entering the NCAA Tournament, had his third such game of the postseason with a 2-for-3 effort today.
» Carter Graham went 3-for-4, his ninth game this season with three or more hits and tied a career-high with two doubles.
» Tommy Troy went 2-for-4 at the plate and is now hitting 16-for-38 during the NCAA Tournament ... Troy went 1-for-12 at the 2021 MCWS and 1-for-7 at the 2022 MCWS.
» The Cardinal out-hit the Demon Deacons at a 9-6 clip.
» Stanford pitchers limited Wake Forest to just 1-for-6 (.167) with runners in scoring position.
» Stanford pitchers faced 35 Wake Forest hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and six fly balls while striking out eight.
» Wake Forest was led offensively by junior Brock Wilken, who went 1-for-2 with a home run and an RBI.
» Junior Seth Keener led the Demon Deacons pitching staff, throwing 1.1 shutout innings.
