On Monday night, No.2 Stanford baseball defeated No.13 Texas State 4-3 to win their NCAA tournament regional and advance to the super regional round against Connecticut. Brandt Pancer (2-0) was the winning pitcher for Stanford in a relief role while Levi Wells (8-3) was the losing pitcher for Texas State in a relief role.

“First of all, a lot of respect, I pay a lot of respect to Texas State,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said after the game. “I mean, what a quality team. Obviously went right down to the end. They were unbelievably good and tough on us and we had to earn obviously had to dig down deep for a miracle there at the end to pull this one out. But, what a great team and Coach Trout is a great coach who had his team just really prepared and those two pitchers they threw at us tonight, I mean, they gave us all they could handle, especially their closer. I didn’t know that he's thrown eighty, ninety pitches the whole year and he goes out there and holds us for six plus innings or seven innings. Just a great job.

“So, but a miracle win. I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of some miracle finishes all the way back to nineteen eighty-seven in Omaha with Paul Carey’s grand slam. But this one’s right up there. You know, this just out of nowhere, I probably shouldn’t tell you that when Drew Bowser is up and went to 1-0, I was yelling out the verbal ‘take’ and he hits a home run. And then you know, Tommy Troy right behind him, and then Eddie Park, who’s been getting hits for us this whole tournament. We did all the little things right. Adam Crampton gets a bunt down and then Trevor comes up and every time we’ve given an opportunity he’s come through for us. He played a great game the other day, his first start of the whole year, and he gets a chance to win the game and comes through for us.

“Just so proud of these guys. I’m so proud of that pitching staff. Drew Dowd here went as long as anybody two and a third. But from Dixon to Meier to Bruno who pitched third day in a row. Montgomery, we pull out of right field and boy, what a lot to ask of him to go two innings for the first time in a long time. No blaming what he did for us and then Brandt Pancer obviously coming and getting that last out in the ninth. Just proud of this team.”

After both teams went scoreless in the 1st inning, both teams found a way to get on the board in the 2nd inning. In the top of the 2nd inning, John Wuthrich hit a double to left center with one out. Peyton Lewis would then ground out to second base, advancing Wuthrich to third base. Cameron Gibbons would then single to left center to bring Wuthrich home. 1-0 Texas State lead. Joey Dixon, who was the starting pitcher for Stanford, then walked Isaiah Ortega-Jones, advancing Gibbons to second base. It was at this point that Dixon’s day was done as Max Meier came in to pitch. Meier forced Dalton Shuffield to foul out to first base to end the top of the inning, keeping it at a 1-0 game.

In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Kody Huff hit a solo homer for Stanford to left field with one out to tie up the game. With two outs, Tommy Troy would hit a single after which Eddie Park hit a double to right center to advance Troy to third base. Stanford would not bring Troy or Park home as Adam Crampton grounded out to Texas State starting pitcher Tristan Stivors to end the inning.

The next six innings would be scoreless, but that doesn’t mean it was drama-free. There were a lot of tense and dramatic moments before the decisive 9th inning.

In the top of the 3rd inning, Meier gave up a single to Justin Thompson before forcing two fly outs. Daylan Pena then hit a single to advance Thompson to second base before Wuthrich flied out to center field to end the top of the inning. In the bottom of the 3rd, Brock Jones got walked to get on base for Stanford, but nobody else was able to advance him.

In the top of the 4th inning, Gibbons hit a single up the middle with one out before Ortega-Jones hit a single to right field to advance Gibbons to second base. Fortunately for Stanford, Shuffield grounded into a double play to end the top of the inning. The bottom of the 4th would be pretty uneventful as nobody from Stanford got on base: Two strikeouts and one ground out.

In the top of the 5th inning, Drew Dowd came in to pitch for Meier. Aside from giving up a single, Dowd had little trouble getting the Texas State batters out with two strikeouts and a ground out. In the bottom of the 5th, Stanford had a chance to score, but failed to capitalize. Park hit a single to second base and advanced to second base as Crampton advanced him by way of a sacrifice bunt. Jones then hit a single to right field which caused Park to round third base and come home where he was tagged out at home plate. Stanford should have kept Park at third base, but instead it was now two outs and only Jones on base. Carter Graham would then strike out swinging to end the inning.

In the top of the 6th inning, Dowd did his job, only walking one batter. Lewis who was walked, did advance to second base via a throwing error, but Dowd struck out Ortega-Jones for the third out.

“I pretty much had the same stuff I’ve had all year,” Dowd said. “I think I was just pretty much running on fumes after throwing fifty yesterday. But I’d say that it was obviously a big game. I try to keep my emotions in under check. I think definitely, just seeing how this been a dog fight, I hadn’t pitched in the first two games against them. But I knew when I got my opportunity I really wanted to make a mark, especially against those guys. They’re a really tough team. But, a game like that, I just want to step up to the plate and do what I could. From Bruno coming in after me to me picking up Meier. I mean everybody on our pitching staff, I’m so proud of all those guys and I mean, I’m up here right now, but any one of those guys could be up here because they all did great jobs today.”

In the bottom of the 6th, Stanford had a little more life as Brett Barrera hit a double to left field in the opening at-bat. Braden Montgomery then grounded out to second base to advance Barrera to third base. Unfortunately for Stanford, Huff lined out to second base after which Drew Bowser struck out swinging to end the inning.

In the top of the 7th inning, Dowd would force a ground out to Shuffield before giving up a double to Thompson. After that double from Thompson, Dowd was done and in came Ryan Bruno, who got two straight strikeouts after Thompson advanced to third base on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the 7th, only Park got on base for Stanford by way of a single to left field.

In the top of the 8th inning, Stanford moved Montgomery to pitcher and he got three outs without allowing anyone to get on base. Two strike outs and a pop up to second base. In the bottom of the 8th, Zeke Wood came in to pitch for Stivors and aside from a single from Montgomery, got three outs with no trouble. This set up a 1-1 game going into the 9th inning.

In the top of the 9th inning, Texas State would load up the bases with two outs. With Ortega-Jones on first base and Gibbons on third base, Stanford decided to intentionally walk Jose Gonzalez, who had been hot all weekend. The next batter Wesley Faison hit a single to center field to bring home Ortega-Jones and Gibbons. This ended Montgomery’s night on the mound as Pancer came in to get the final out needed to keep it at a 3-1 game.

Down by two runs in the bottom of the 9th inning, Stanford was obviously in a lot of trouble. Wood remained on the mound for Texas State and all things appeared to be going the Bobcats’ way. The first batter Wood faced was Bowser, who hit a solo home run to left center to make it a 3-2 game. The next batter was Troy, who hit a solo home run to center field to tie the game up 3-3. Just like that, Stanford had a new lease on life. As for Wood, his day was done as Levi Wells came in to pitch in his place.

Park would then hit a single to left field after which Crampton grounded out to the pitcher to advance Park to second base. At this point, Jones was at the plate and Texas State decided to walk him. Thanks to a wild pitch, during Trevor Haskins’ at-bat, Jones advanced to second base while Park advanced to third. Once he got a pitch he liked, Haskins hit a single to left field to bring Park home, making it a 4-3 Stanford victory.

“I wanna first give it up to Drew and Tommy for bringing us back in the game,” Haskins said of his game-winning hit. “That was huge. Every other player too had gritty ABs all game, all weekend long. I wanna give out to our pitchers who kept us in the game the whole time. Our pitchers locked in all weekend and did what they had to do. Going into that AB, wasn’t trying to do too much, just keep it simple, get the job done for the team.”

“I think what helped me this weekend was really committing to a plan at the plate,” Park said of his strong performance. “I felt like for a lot of the season I wasn’t really confident in a plan. I was half and half. I was fully committed, but this weekend I really bought into the idea of committing to a plan, if I don’t get the pitch I was looking for, then so what, next pitch. And I really took it pitch to pitch and I think that’s what helped me be successful this weekend.”

After looking like they were dead in the water, Stanford found a way to come back to life. If there’s ever an example of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, this game would be it. Stanford hadn’t been able to generate much offense all night and when they needed it most, Bowser and Troy stepped up with two clutch homers. Simply incredible.

“I’m just so proud of this team and really, just the emotions at the end of the game were guys who care so much about each other and I think maybe that’s the thing that kind carries them through,” Esquer said. “They just don’t want to let each other down and when it go backs up against the wall in the ninth inning, it was just about playing for the people in the dugout and from Bowser to Troy to Eddie to Trevor here. I mean and the whole pitching staff. Coach Eager, I can’t speak highly enough of what Coach Eager has done for us and the pitching staff.

“I mean, we needed everybody. I think we led the league in ERA and we needed the whole staff that led the league in ERA to be able to hold those guys down because that is one heck of a lineup and some of those, the short stop on their team is player of the year, he’s definitely a player of the year candidate, and obviously the number three hitter who kinda touched us up with three home runs, we had to deal with.

“Could really feel them [the crowd] in the big outs. A couple times when Ryan Bruno was out there on the mound. You could feel that when Drew was on the mound and then in the ninth inning just kinda feel that energy. That don’t give up energy like hey this isn’t over with. That bases loaded base hit can’t be the end of it. They were kinda willing us through a little bit and then after Bowser hits that home run it was electric and then that might have been part of the energy that Tommy Troy had to back that up…I think once those runners moved up to second and third, you had a feeling like this is the moment, we may not get a chance to score with an out, right?

“And we had one at-bat with Trevor up there that he could hit a sac fly and be able to drive in a run with an out. But to get a hit in that spot and you know, we had the batting champion of the Pac-12 sitting right behind him, so another capable body coming up. But Trevor came through for us and man, just the whole stadium. The electricity in the stadium after that base hit was, I’ll never forget it.”

As for Texas State, this loss really stings. Their head coach Steven Trout was fighting back tears in the post-game press conference, torn up with all sorts of emotions. As happy as Stanford was to win this game, Texas State was equally dejected on their end. The full circle of emotions was truly on display in this game.

“What an unreal game,” Trout said. “Last game of regional pushes to the brim. I thought we obviously had it there going up 3-1 and I mean, you gotta tip your hat. They took some great swings in some big moments. Found that’s why they’re number two in the country and yeah, what a great program.”

Up next for Stanford is their super regional, where they’ll host Connecticut in a best of three series. The first game will be on Saturday at 7:30 PM PT on ESPNU and KZSU radio.

To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.

To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.

Join the conversation on CardinalSportsReport.com