Rintaro Sasaki Cracks First Two Collegiate Home Runs in Stanford Victory

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STANFORD, California ― It took Rintaro Sasaki 17 games to belt his first collegiate home run, but it will be remembered for a long time. The Stanford University freshman slugger hit a prodigious towering blast in the fifth inning of an 11-1 win over Duke University on Saturday, March 15 at Sunken Diamond.

The Iwate Prefecture native was 0-for-2 with a walk when he stepped to the plate with the Cardinal leading 6-1 and turned on a 2-1 high fastball from Duke reliever Max Stammel and deposited it over the trees behind the right field wall. The crowd on hand gasped as the ball rocketed off the 125-kg slugger's bat and roared its approval when it cleared the fence.

Sasaki followed his first long ball with a line-drive single to left field his next time up in the sixth inning. He then brought the game to a dramatic end in the bottom of the eighth inning when he smoked a three-run sayonara shot to right field that ended the contest on the 10-run mercy rule.

Sasaki was mobbed at home plate by his Stanford teammates as he completed his second circuit clout of the day to finish with three hits, two home runs and four RBIs.

The 19-year-old Sasaki came to Stanford as Japan's all-time prep home run leader with 140 during his career at Hanamaki Higashi High School, but had not been able to leave the yard during more than 75 plate appearances in his freshman campaign.

Rintaro Sasaki Having a Strong Freshman Season

After Saturday's heroics, Sasaki is batting .333 with 19 RBIs. His on-base percentage of .425 is second amongst the team's starters and he has reached base in 16 of 17 games.

"I don't like talking about myself, I'm just happy we are continuing to win," Sasaki stated on the field after the game. "We have beaten Duke in two games now and have to keep going for tomorrow."

Added Sasaki, "I don't care so much about home runs. I am just happy the team is winning. That is the first thing in my mind. A home run is good, but I am just thinking about the next game."

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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.