Stanford is heading back to the College World Series for the third consecutive season after defeating the Texas Longhorns on Monday night in the most dramatic way possible — walking off with two outs in the ninth inning for a 7-6 victory.
And it’s worth wondering if the exact same game, played at the exact same location at any other time of day would’ve produced the same outcome.
Because Stanford didn’t walk off on a memorable home run or a screaming line drive. The Cardinal won on a pop up that the Longhorns’ outfielders simply could not track through the shine of the stadium’s lights against the sky.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!
STANFORD IS HEADED BACK TO OMAHA!!!!!!!!!!!#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/lOPLVhxcPY
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) June 13, 2023
This actually not an uncommon phenomenon for Cardinal baseball. The mix of late dusk plus the strong lights at the stadium have caused many teams to struggle tracking pop-ups .There’s even a name for it: Stanford twilight.
And plenty of baseball fans think it’s the reason why the Cardinal, and not the Longhorns, are headed to Omaha.
The twilight at Stanford is a real thing, by the way. As @R_Brauninger pointed out, Texas A&M lost two balls in similar fashion last weekend that led to runs for Stanford. It's really difficult to see fly balls there at night if you're not used to it.
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) June 13, 2023
Texas A&M lost a ball above the lights at Stanford last week in the Regional Final game that scored two runs late.
Texas just lost a ball above the lights at Stanford that sends the Cardinal to Omaha.
Don’t blame the kids. It’s impossible to see at that time of night. Brutal
— Ryan Brauninger (@R_Brauninger) June 13, 2023
Dylan Campbell after UT’s gut punch of a Super Regional loss to Stanford on a fly ball lost in the twilight. @KXAN_News pic.twitter.com/OjtGvkXokG
— Roger Wallace (@rwallacekxan) June 13, 2023
Jay Johnson said that he’s noticed outfielders losing balls in twilight a lot more this year than he’s ever seen.
“You hate it for a game like that (Texas-Stanford) with those caliber teams to end like that.”
Added that he recruited Lucas Gordman while he was at Arizona and…
— Leah Vann (@LVann_Sports) June 13, 2023
That ball was not "lost in the lights," it was lost in the twilight above the lights. When you hear "tough sky" from a ballplayer, it means what they were looking at in Stanford. The white ball washes out up there if you don't have clouds to frame it
— Matt Michaels (@MattAndAMic) June 13, 2023
You've got to be kidding me. The twilight sky at Stanford strikes again. Incredible.
— Jason Caldwell (@ITATJason) June 13, 2023
OMG, brutal way for the Stanford/Texas game to end. But, if you've ever played the outfield in the Bay at twilight, you can sympathize. 😳
— Derek C (@derekc5) June 13, 2023
