College World Series: NCAA announces re-start time for Wake Forest, Stanford

The NCAA has announced a re-start time for Saturday’s game between Wake Forest and Stanford after the game entered a weather delay in the top of the seventh inning. Umpires pulled the players from the field due to lightning in the area.

A re-start time of 5:45 p.m. ET was announced, the NCAA said, and the game will remain on ESPN. Stanford held a 2-1 lead at the time of the delay.

Stanford struck first in the first inning on a bases loaded hit by pitch, but Wake Forest answered back in a big way with a Brock Wilken home run in the second inning to tie things up at 1-1. That was the score until the Cardinal jumped back in front in the top of the third on a single by Carter Graham, who made a highlight-reel play earlier in the game, to make it a 2-1 Stanford lead. The score didn’t change despite multiple threats, and it remained that way until the stoppage.

How experience could be on Stanford’s side during the College World Series

Considering the Cardinal have been to Omaha the last two years, they have experience on their side. That’s why Quinn Matthews said Stanford might have an edge going up against a Wake Forest team which, despite coming in as the No. 1 seed, hasn’t been back to the College World Series since winning the 1955 national championship.

“I think the big advantage is that we’ve been here, we’ve played here,” Mathews said. “You know the ground, you know the field, you know the atmosphere and you know what it’s like to try and go to sleep at night, honestly, with the jitters, the energy, the adrenaline of being here. The excitement amongst the team, the practices. Everything is amplified a little bit.

“I also think there’s a little bit of a disadvantage because, as you said, you are so familiar with the things. You have a certain set of expectations as a team here for the third time.”

Charles Schwab Field isn’t the easiest place to play for the first time. The stakes are as high as they get in college baseball, which is why experience can be valuable. That’s the message left fielder Alberto Rios had, as well, pointing out how familiarity with the park can make an impact.

“I think we know what it takes,” Rios said earlier this week. “I think we’ve been here, gosh, three times for some people. It’s just a familiar territory. We know what it takes. We know what we need to do, and I think it’s just a matter of time before we just go out there, play our game and let the chips fall where they will.”