STANFORD, Calif. – Sophomore Rintaro Sasaki delivered a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning as Stanford (21-19, 10-11 ACC) earned a series sweep over No. 8 Florida State (29-14, 12-9 ACC) by way of a 7-4 victory on Sunday from Sunken Diamond.
The walk-off win was the second in as many games for the Cardinal after Eric Jeon broke a 7-7 tie and handed Stanford the 8-7 victory with a single in the bottom of the 11th on Saturday afternoon.
Sasaki came to the plate with the bases loaded, nobody out, and the Cardinal trailing 4-3. Facing FSU’s Brodie Purcell, Brady Reynolds got the inning started with a singled into centerfield. Jimmy Nati followed with a single into left field – his third hit of the afternoon – before the Seminoles called to the bullpen and summoned Gabe Nard. Nard got ahead of Nolan Stoll 0-2, but the freshman backstop eventually worked a seven-pitch walk to load the bases and bring Sasaki to the plate. Florida State once again went to the bullpen, selecting left-hander Kevin Melby to face the left-hand hitting slugger. Sasaki took the first two pitches for balls before lacing the 2-0 offering out to left-center field for the grand slam.
The round-tripper was Sasaki’s team-leading 14th of the year, while the walk-off hit was his second of the season after leaving Utah Valley on the field on March 21.
Florida State had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth after Eli Putnam connected for a go-ahead solo homer off freshman Brock Ketelsen leading off the inning. Ketelsen retired the next three batters without incident, and was credited with his third win of the week when Sasaki homered in the bottom of the ninth.
Senior Nick Dugan turned in a good start for the Cardinal in a no-decision, working four innings and limiting Florida State to two runs (one earned) in the first inning. The right-hander allowed four hits while striking out two.
Trailing 2-0 after one inning, Stanford managed to claw back even with single runs in the second and fourth innings. Nati delivered both runs with two outs, lacing a single into center field to chase home Reynolds in the second before shooting an RBI-double into the right-center field gap in the fourth to bring home Charlie Bates.
Florida State reclaimed a 3-2 lead in the sixth, but Stanford caught a break in the bottom of the seventh en route to getting level. The bottom of the seventh started innocently enough, as Florida State retired the first two batters on eight pitches. Luke Lavin kept the inning alive with a liner down the left field line that went for a double. After Rashad Hayes replaced Lavin on the basepaths, the speedy freshman got a great read on a ball in the dirt to take a crucial 90 feet and scamper into third. Facing Sasaki with the tying run at third, Florida State reliever Cade Oleary got the strikeout, but the ball skipped in the dirt and to the backstop, allowing Hayes to come home with the game-tying run.
Emerging as a top arm out of the Cardinal bullpen this season, senior Trevor Moore was instrumental in the Cardinal victory, entering with two aboard and nobody out in the seventh before getting a strikeout and inducing an inning-ending double play. The right-hander would roll another inning-ending double play ball in the bottom of the eighth to strand the go-ahead run in scoring position, finishing his afternoon with two scoreless innings of work.
Stanford, winner of five straight games, will welcome UC Davis to Sunken Diamond for a 6:05 p.m. first pitch on Monday.
GAME NOTES:
- Stanford has won five straight games for the first time since a five-game win streak from March 21-27 of this year … has managed five walk-off wins this year, including a walk-off in each of the last two contests … posted a sweep of a conference foe for the first time since taking all three against Duke at home from March 14-16, 2025 … won a home series over a top-10 opponent for the first time since taking two-of-three from No. 9 Arizona from May 7-9, 2021 … swept a series over a ranked opponent for the first time since sweeping No. 20 Arizona State on the road from May 5-7, 2023 … posted a sweep over a top-10 opponent for the first time since sweeping No. 7 Texas in a three-game home series from February 24-26, 2012
- Sasaki’s walk-off grand slam was the first for Stanford since Brian Hall capped a seven-run bottom of the ninth with a slam as Stanford completed a 10-6 comeback victory over Kansas on February 15, 2004