Cardinal win instant classic to advance to Super Regional

For the first time since 2014 Stanford will play super regional baseball. The Cardinal held off Fresno State 9-7 Monday night in back-and-forth classic that for the second straight night featured a bit of everything from the Bulldogs and Cardinal.

Stanford won three straight elimination games to finally win a home regional after two straight seasons of suffering heartbreak caused by rival Cal State Fullerton. When Jack Little struck out Carter Bins looking for the final out the Cardinal players and fans exploded with the release of the tension caused by those losses.

There were several heroes who helped push the Cardinal over the hump.

Maverick Handley hit two home runs, each that tied the game, and only had five for the season. Christian Robinson had two, two-RBI hits with two outs from the No. 9 spot in the order and made a great sliding, bobbling catch in center field in the eighth.

Handley was named the regional MVP with this stat line: .313/.522/.875 with five runs, five RBI, six walks and one HBP.

Little struck out the side to combine with Brendan Beck for a perfect stretch of four innings to steady a game that was rocking like a roller coaster the first five frames. Beck threw 101 pitches Friday night but it was apparently the plan since last night to have him be a critical piece to the puzzle Monday.

He came in for Zach Grech in the fifth inning after Nate Thimjon rocketed a ball that stalled in the middle of the strike zone to cut Stanford's lead to 9-7.

Beck got Zach Presno to strike out and then shut down the Bulldogs for three innings. He struck out two more and didn't allow a runner. Fresno State had scored in three of the first five innings of the game and forced Stanford to replace three pitchers. Beck's curveball and command was like a bucket of cold water on the Bulldogs.

Little recorded his 28th save of his career and his fastball was jumping. He has fallen apart in a couple ninth innings this season, but he blew away Fresno State's hope of a rally.

Stanford head coach David Esquer and pitching coach Thomas Eager decided to "start" freshman reliever Cody Jensen but with the clear understanding that as soon as he was in trouble he was coming out of the game.

Robinson's two-RBI single in the top of the second off Fresno State starter Jaime Arias scored Andrew Daschbach and Will Matthiessen to give Jensen the lead after a quiet first inning. But the bottom of the second came apart, starting with a throwing error by Tim Tawa, who has an advanced case of the yips throwing from shortstop to first.

Fresno State used that mistake to spark a three-run inning that chased Jensen and rattled Jacob Palisch at certain points before the sophomore eventually struck out the side.

Handley launched his first home run of the night on the first pitch of the top of the third to make sure everyone knew the game was going to be nuts.

Fresno State went ahead in the fourth inning when Bins jumped on a pitch by Palisch, who was spending a lot of energy checking Zach Ashford at first base.

Again Handley came to the rescue in the top of the fifth. He launched a no-doubter to left-center that left his teammates, and the fans who knew anything about him, in a state of mixed disbelief and euphoria. Handley was told last season to not aim to hit home runs and somehow he managed to hit two in the biggest game of his career.

That home run got the Cardinal rolling and a crowd energized by a block of students piled on the frayed nerves of reliever Kevin Larson, who at one point threw seven straight balls. Each was loudly counted by the Stanford students.

The Cardinal pushed six runs across and that was finally just enough cushion to hold off Fresno State.

In a game full of raw emotion there was a wonderful moment when Kyle Stowers learned he had just been drafted No. 71 overall by the Baltimore Orioles. It was the top of the fourth and Esquer took advantage of a pitching change to let Stowers know while he was standing in the on-deck circle.

His teammates embraced him and the crowd gave him a standing ovation. He took off his helmet and waved at the crowd in thanks.

David Esquer: "I could not be prouder of a group of guys and the way they battled back. I said last night that the 'if necessary' game sometimes requires you have a number of heroes and performances that you can't anticipate. We got those tonight.

"Christian Robinson had an absolutely great ballgame for us offensively and defensively. Maverick Handley hit two home runs. And then obviously our pitching staff, which was pieced together until we got it to Brendan Beck, who was willing to come back and pitch for us after starting on Friday. And Jack Little has never been better at the end of a game.

"We needed every pitch, every hit and every ounce of energy. We left a lot out there but that didn't matter. Our team has a lot of grit. They have a toughness about them that people don't expect."

Was one home run bigger in your mind?

Handley: "They both got us back in the game. For me it was about getting on base and getting it to the next guy. It just happened to go out of the park."

What stands out about tonight and winning three elimination games?

Robinson: "I think the main thing that stands out is that it was a tough game. They wouldn't go away. Coming out of the elimination bracket, playing two games yesterday, it was not easy by any means. I think it really shows that we can be a tough team that can win these games."

Did you guys get rid of demons from the past couple years?

Esquer: "We talked a little about how we needed a breakthrough performance. It has been a couple years that we haven't gotten over the hump of hosting a regional and not getting out of it. We knew it would take an effort like tonight ... and it wasn't going to be easy. We embraced it and never really feared or stepped back, 'Why can't it be easier?' We knew it was coming."

From your perspective, what were Jack and Brendan able to do to change the game?

Handley: "They did what they do all the time, which is pound the zone where they want to throw the ball and mix speeds. I thought Brendan was what he threw on Friday. It was sliders, fastballs away, fastballs in, kind of whatever he wanted. Little came in and his fastball -- when it's on it doesn't get hit. I wasn't shocked. It was expected."

What was your mindset coming in knowing you were doing something you haven't done all season?

Beck: "It was great. It made it a lot easier coming in with a lead, for sure. I just tried to throw up zeroes and control the game. I think up until that point ... it was a big back and forth affair so (I wanted) to bring some stability and slow the game down. Let the guys take a step back and say, 'Hey, we have the lead and we're this many outs away. All we have to do is keep doing what we're doing.' That was the biggest thing I was trying to do."