There were plenty of tears after Stanford's final out of the season. Will Matthiessen put a charge into the ball with two outs and Brandon Wulff on second, but Fullerton's Ruben Cardenas made a great catch, slamming into the wall to rob Matthiessen of an RBI double that would have kept the spark of hope alive with the Cardinal down 5-2. It was a well earned spotlight for Cardenas, who gave the Titans the extra insurance they needed with a three run home run off Austin Weiermiller in the fifth inning.
Before that hit Fullerton led 2-0 on two sac fly outs against sophomore Erik Miller, and the home run was only the second hit of the game for Fullerton. It was a maddening taunt of the Cardinal lineup that struggled all weekend to get comfortable and watched as the Titans got just enough to win with a couple clutch hits, something that eluded Stanford.
The Cardinal appeared stunned after the game. This group had never faced a challenge they couldn't eventually figure out how to beat, even if it did sometimes take until late into the third game of a series a couple times.
It was a weekend that did not reflect the work of a team that won 44 regular season games, the program's first conference title in 14 years and a national No. 2 ranking for much of the second half of the season. Poor defense compared to the Cardinal's previous standard and worse baserunning at critical times showed just how frazzled the players were while trying to force normalcy. It was a miserable weekend for players such as Kyle Stowers and Beau Branton, two unlikely heroes this season without whom there was no conference crown.
Wulff was in tears in the postgame press conference and at one point couldn't finish the answer to a question. The players stayed in a huddle for a long time after the game and before breaking up many were hugging each other on the field that they created incredible memories this season.
It was a tough draw for Stanford to get what some called the "Group of Death" as a nod to the soccer term often used in the World Cup. And the loss of Maverick Handley loomed large over the end of the season. Stanford lost five games since he was injured just before the Oregon State series and it's tough to know how much would have been different with him available.
And it stings all the more to lose to Fullerton. Stanford and the Titans have met 19 times in the postseason and Fullerton has upset the nationally seeded Cardinal in consecutive years.
Esquer
"First of all, congratulations to Cal State Fullerton. What an effort by them. They played two extremely good ballgames. I thought we played two tough ballgames, too. Again, trying to get our footing offensively and never getting over the hump. They were a big reason for it. I thought their pitching did a great job. They were very opportunistic. I think they had five runs on two hits for most of the game. We played them earlier in the year and they're a different team and much improved. A lot of that goes to Coach Vanderhook and the coaching staff.
This group, as far as our team, it's a sad ending for our club because what a great year and what a lot of fun. This team took us on a great ride. Some of the greatest wins I've ever been associated with happened this year -- comebacks out of nowhere, a Pac-12 championship that they'll never take away from us. Sometimes you get into tournament baseball and you don't hit your stride like you'd like to. We fell victim to that a little bit. The effort was there and our guys were fighting to the end to try to find themselves. I thought our pitching staff did a great job of giving us an opportunity to win. And were just a little bit short as far as hitting our side."
What was Tanner Bibee throwing and what did you think of Brandon Cooper's strike zone?
"Our kids seemed to be reacting to the strike zone. I probably won't be able to tell until I get a chance to look at the film. It seemed a little loose in the sense that our guys were a little bit upset. It could have just been the emotion of the game. I'm not going to say that's exactly the reason for our misfortune. Obviously there was some attention put to it because of the emotion our players were reacting with."
Brandon, what did you think of Bibee?
"I thought he hit his spots. He was pounding the zones and maybe getting a couple extra calls that we didn't like. But he pounded the zone and was able to throw his fastball and curveball for a strike to get us off balance inside and outside. We couldn't make the adjustment quick enough."
How disappointing is it to lose here for the second straight year?
Wulff: "Yeah, it sucks. There's no way around it. It has been so much fun playing with these guys." (Wulff couldn't go on talking through tears.)
Andrew, what are some of the biggest takeaways you'll have from this team?
"Our competitive nature. As coach mentioned we've had some great wins this year in big spots. Not only older guys like Brandon, but younger guys who have bright futures in the program. I would say our competitiveness has been a strong takeaway for us and we'll look to build off."
You said Fullerton is a different team, but how?
Esquer: "They play cleaner. I thought we were able to pressure them into a few mistakes early in the season. I thought we handled their pitching much better on the offensive side. And I thought they seemed all-around improved. Those are two big ballgames we played and two really competitive games. They were able to come out on top."
Looking back on the season: "I also have to have to mention my assistant coaches. They're unbelievably prepared for every ball game and the reason we were able to hold them down and be in the right positions to defend this weekend was our coaches do a tremendous amount of scouting. And also training them to be competitive and get them ready to play. I don't think I've ever had a team as prepared as I had this year and that goes to my assistant coaches."
Brandon, how do you sum up your four years here?
"Three years. Maybe a fourth. It has been fun, so much fun. This group of guys so far has been the best team I've ever played for. This coaching staff loves their players more than anyone I've ever seen. They only want the best for us. Even the games that we lose there is no negativity. It's always looking at the positives. That's the biggest takeaway from this year is how positive our coaches have been and how great a group of guys we play with."
Before that hit Fullerton led 2-0 on two sac fly outs against sophomore Erik Miller, and the home run was only the second hit of the game for Fullerton. It was a maddening taunt of the Cardinal lineup that struggled all weekend to get comfortable and watched as the Titans got just enough to win with a couple clutch hits, something that eluded Stanford.
The Cardinal appeared stunned after the game. This group had never faced a challenge they couldn't eventually figure out how to beat, even if it did sometimes take until late into the third game of a series a couple times.
It was a weekend that did not reflect the work of a team that won 44 regular season games, the program's first conference title in 14 years and a national No. 2 ranking for much of the second half of the season. Poor defense compared to the Cardinal's previous standard and worse baserunning at critical times showed just how frazzled the players were while trying to force normalcy. It was a miserable weekend for players such as Kyle Stowers and Beau Branton, two unlikely heroes this season without whom there was no conference crown.
Wulff was in tears in the postgame press conference and at one point couldn't finish the answer to a question. The players stayed in a huddle for a long time after the game and before breaking up many were hugging each other on the field that they created incredible memories this season.
It was a tough draw for Stanford to get what some called the "Group of Death" as a nod to the soccer term often used in the World Cup. And the loss of Maverick Handley loomed large over the end of the season. Stanford lost five games since he was injured just before the Oregon State series and it's tough to know how much would have been different with him available.
And it stings all the more to lose to Fullerton. Stanford and the Titans have met 19 times in the postseason and Fullerton has upset the nationally seeded Cardinal in consecutive years.
Esquer
"First of all, congratulations to Cal State Fullerton. What an effort by them. They played two extremely good ballgames. I thought we played two tough ballgames, too. Again, trying to get our footing offensively and never getting over the hump. They were a big reason for it. I thought their pitching did a great job. They were very opportunistic. I think they had five runs on two hits for most of the game. We played them earlier in the year and they're a different team and much improved. A lot of that goes to Coach Vanderhook and the coaching staff.
This group, as far as our team, it's a sad ending for our club because what a great year and what a lot of fun. This team took us on a great ride. Some of the greatest wins I've ever been associated with happened this year -- comebacks out of nowhere, a Pac-12 championship that they'll never take away from us. Sometimes you get into tournament baseball and you don't hit your stride like you'd like to. We fell victim to that a little bit. The effort was there and our guys were fighting to the end to try to find themselves. I thought our pitching staff did a great job of giving us an opportunity to win. And were just a little bit short as far as hitting our side."
What was Tanner Bibee throwing and what did you think of Brandon Cooper's strike zone?
"Our kids seemed to be reacting to the strike zone. I probably won't be able to tell until I get a chance to look at the film. It seemed a little loose in the sense that our guys were a little bit upset. It could have just been the emotion of the game. I'm not going to say that's exactly the reason for our misfortune. Obviously there was some attention put to it because of the emotion our players were reacting with."
Brandon, what did you think of Bibee?
"I thought he hit his spots. He was pounding the zones and maybe getting a couple extra calls that we didn't like. But he pounded the zone and was able to throw his fastball and curveball for a strike to get us off balance inside and outside. We couldn't make the adjustment quick enough."
How disappointing is it to lose here for the second straight year?
Wulff: "Yeah, it sucks. There's no way around it. It has been so much fun playing with these guys." (Wulff couldn't go on talking through tears.)
Andrew, what are some of the biggest takeaways you'll have from this team?
"Our competitive nature. As coach mentioned we've had some great wins this year in big spots. Not only older guys like Brandon, but younger guys who have bright futures in the program. I would say our competitiveness has been a strong takeaway for us and we'll look to build off."
You said Fullerton is a different team, but how?
Esquer: "They play cleaner. I thought we were able to pressure them into a few mistakes early in the season. I thought we handled their pitching much better on the offensive side. And I thought they seemed all-around improved. Those are two big ballgames we played and two really competitive games. They were able to come out on top."
Looking back on the season: "I also have to have to mention my assistant coaches. They're unbelievably prepared for every ball game and the reason we were able to hold them down and be in the right positions to defend this weekend was our coaches do a tremendous amount of scouting. And also training them to be competitive and get them ready to play. I don't think I've ever had a team as prepared as I had this year and that goes to my assistant coaches."
Brandon, how do you sum up your four years here?
"Three years. Maybe a fourth. It has been fun, so much fun. This group of guys so far has been the best team I've ever played for. This coaching staff loves their players more than anyone I've ever seen. They only want the best for us. Even the games that we lose there is no negativity. It's always looking at the positives. That's the biggest takeaway from this year is how positive our coaches have been and how great a group of guys we play with."
