Baseball

Rintaro Sasaki Homers Again for Stanford and Now Leads the Team in RBIs

After the first 20 games of his freshman season, highly touted first baseman Rintaro Sasaki is batting .354 with 24 RBIs for Stanford.

by
Jack Gallagher
March 23, 2025

STANFORD, California ― Rintaro Sasaki may only be a freshman, but he has proven his bona fides after just 20 games with Stanford University.

The 19-year-old had three singles, all frozen rope line drives, in the Cardinal's 13-3 loss to the University of California in the opener of their three-game series on Friday night, March 21 at Sunken Diamond. He then blasted a solo home run for his fourth circuit clout of the campaign in Saturday afternoon's 13-4 defeat to the Golden Bears.

The burly slugger has clearly acclimated well to the American collegiate game, where he has started every contest for the Stanford (15-5) at first base this season. Sasaki, an Iwate Prefecture native, leads the team in RBIs (24) and is second in batting average (.354).

Cardinal Dugout Boss Impressed with Rintaro Sasaki

Stanford coach David Esquer likes what he is seeing from his young charge at this early juncture.

"He is swinging the bat well, really squaring the ball up," Esquer remarked on Saturday. "Every time he puts a pass on the ball, he has the chance for something exciting to happen."

Added Esquer, "He is just feeling good, he is more comfortable. [And] he has feet underneath him now."

Cal Takes a Commanding Lead on Saturday

Stanford saw its pitching staff get lit up for the second day in a row on Saturday, falling behind 9-1 before Sasaki put some life into the home crowd with the blast to right in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to 9-2.

The 125-kg sensation turned on a first-pitch fastball from Cal starter Gavin Eddy and hit a shot that seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. Bears right fielder Jacob French went back to the wall and tried to time his jump, but could not corral the ball as it went over his outstretched glove and into the trees beyond the fence.

"I had a good swing on it, but it was close," Sasaki commented. "A home run doesn't matter when the team loses. We will try to come back tomorrow."

Sasaki is in a groove now, with each contact with the ball producing a huge sound from his aluminum bat.

"Every AB (at-bat) sounds and feels not too bad," Sasaki remarked. "Yesterday each single felt good. I'm learning something every day. Trying to focus on each AB. It's nice."

Rintaro Sasaki Says His Confidence is Increasing

Sasaki's increasing comfort level spells trouble for opposing pitchers.

"I'm gaining confidence," Sasaki noted. "I am getting a great opportunity now to play every game. Whether we win or lose, we are learning something each day."

Sasaki, who went the first 15 games of the season without a homer, has now left the yard four times in the past four games. He said he hasn't changed his swing, but has been focusing on preparation.

"Before each game we are studying the pitchers (on video), and how we will approach them," Sasaki commented. "It's a good chance for all of us."

Additional Details from Saturday's Game

Sasaki fouled out to the catcher on an 0-2 count his first time up in the bottom of the first inning.

In the third, the slugger struck out on a check swing on a 1-2 pitch in an unusual play. The ball got away from Cal catcher Alex Birge as the home plate umpire appealed to the third base arbiter to confirm if it was a strike. This left Sasaki momentarily in no man's land, and by the time he had been rung up, he could not beat the throw to first base.

With two outs in the seventh, Sasaki came to the plate with a runner on base but grounded out to first in his final at-bat of the day.

Eddy (2-1) picked up the win for Cal, allowing three runs on six hits, while striking out eight batters and walking two in 6⅔ innings, in the first series between the traditional rivals in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Left hander Christian Lim (2-3) started for the Cardinal and took the loss, marking the first time this season the team has been beaten in consecutive games. He gave up nine runs (eight earned) on 10 hits, struck out four, and hit two batters in 4⅓ innings.

The Bears got on the board first in the top of the second inning after Ryan T ayman tripled then came home on an error by Stanford shortstop Temo Becerra. The lead grew to 3-0 when Dominic Smaldino ripped a two-run double up the alley in right-center field.

An RBI single by Jarren Advincula scored Smaldino to put Cal up 4-0.

Golden Bears Extend Lead to 6-0

Stanford found itself in a deeper hole after third baseman Trevor Haskins made two errors (one fielding, one throwing) on the same play in the top of the fourth that plated two more runs and boosted the Bears' margin to 6-0.

Charlie Saum scored for the Cardinal in the bottom of the fourth on a fielder's choice with the bases loaded to make it 6-1.

Cal moved out to an 8-1 advantage in the fifth when center fielder Charlie Bates fell down and the ball got past him for a two-run triple by Jacob French. PJ Moutzouridis followed with an RBI single to make it 9-1.

With one out in the sixth, Tayman crushed a ball to center for a three-run homer that gave the Bears an 11-2 lead.

Haskins hit his seventh home run of the season in the seventh to trim the score to 11-3, and Jimmy Nati added a solo shot in the eighth for Stanford to make it 11-4.

The Bears scored two in the ninth on a triple by French, a groundout by Seth Gwynn, and a long homer to center from Smaldino for the final margin of 13-4.

Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.