David Esquer shares message to team following Game 1 Super Regional loss

Stanford dropped Game 1 of their Super Regional matchup with Texas on Saturday, falling 5-7 to the Longhorns. The Cardinal will now have to win two consecutive games at home if they want to keep their College World Series hopes alive, a tall task when facing one of the hottest road teams in the country.

During the fifth inning of Game 2 versus Texas, Stanford head coach David Esquer was asked what his message was to his team following their first loss of the series, revealing an interesting tactic he used as motivation.

“Well last night I sent them a gif of a toilet flushing, a ceremonial flushing of tonight,” Esquer said. “I told them it’s too daunting to try to win two games, we’re not going to win two games at once or we’re not going to get that game back we let get away from us.”

Stanford was up three runs in Game 1 until Texas scored five runs in the final inning of the game to swing momentum their way late and steal a crucial victory.

There’s no doubt a loss like that can leave a bad taste in the mouth of any team on the losing end, a taste that Esquer wanted his team to flush out of their system as soon as possible.

“So hey, we gotta win one game two times, that’s all we can focus on and we’ll give it our best shot. Really really great Texas team here, pretty evenly matched, and any little crack is gonna make a difference,” Esquer explained.

Esquer was also asked what kind of reaction his virtual, ceremonial cleanse of Game 1 got from his team, as his message was apparently a popular one in the team’s group chat.

“I got a few hearts, and a couple exclamation points, and a couple haha’s,” Esquer laughed and said.

His methods may seem unusual, but they’re currently working at the moment, as Stanford leads Texas 5-2 through five innings in Game 2 of the Stanford Super Regional.

An RBI fly out from shortstop Temo Becerra got Stanford on the board early in the second inning with a 1-0 lead. But the Longhorns answered quickly with a two-run third inning that gave them a 2-1 lead.

The Stanford bats got hot from there, as a Tommy Troy RBI double would tie the game up in the fourth inning. Then in the fifth, a Malcolm Moore double and a Drew Bowser home run gave the Cardinal the 5-2 lead that they’ll try to hold on to for the remainder of Game 2.