Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Christian Robinson had two hits and drove in four runs to help Stanford rally past Fresno State 9-7 in the championship game of the Stanford regional on Monday night.
Maverick Handley hit a pair of home runs and drove in three as the top-seeded Cardinal (45-12) won its first regional in five years and will meet Mississippi State in Starkville in a Super Regional beginning Friday.
Carter Bins and Nate Thimjon each hit a two-run homer for the Bulldogs (40-16-1), who had won nine straight before losing twice. Jeff Jamison also drove in a pair of runs.
Both teams repeatedly changed pitchers in an attempt to keep the game within reach. The Bulldogs started their closer Jamie Arias, making his first appearance of the regional. Arias went four-plus innings, allowing four runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out five. Kevin Larson (2-1) took over with a runner on in the fifth and was greeted with Handley's second home run, tying the score.
Stanford added four more runs, including Robinson's two-run double, to go ahead 9-5.
Cody Jensen made his second start of the season for the Cardinal and went an inning-plus before handing it off to Jacob Palisch (5-2), who gave up three runs on three hits, walking two and striking out four.
Zach Grech got two outs and Stanford's Game 1 starter Brendan Beck retired 10 straight, giving him 10 scoreless innings for the weekend. Jack Little got the final three outs for his 12th save.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
