STANFORD, Calif. – Needing to win a pair of elimination games on Sunday to force a winner-take-all final on Monday night, No. 2 Stanford (44-15) defeated No. 20 UC Santa Barbara (44-14) and No. 13 Texas State (47-13) by scores of 8-4 from Sunken Diamond.
The Cardinal and Bobcats will meet on Monday night at 7 p.m. with the regional title on the line. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
Junior Quinn Mathews pitched the final six innings for the Cardinal in the victory over UCSB. The left-hander allowed four hits and two runs while striking out three to pick up the win and move to 9-1 on the season.
Junior Kody Huff went 4 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBIs to lead the offense. Brock Jones batted 3 for 5 with two runs scored, two doubles and two RBIs while hitting out of the leadoff spot. Sophomore Eddie Park also collected three hits – going 3 for 3 with a run scored and a walk.
The Cardinal trailed 2-0 after three and 4-3 after five, but scored three in the sixth, one in the seventh and one in the eighth to pick up the victory and stave off elimination. Jones' go-ahead two-RBI double in the three-run sixth proved to be the game-winning hit as Mathews hung four zeroes to finish off the victory.
Stanford's offense finished with eight runs scored on 15 hits while holding the Gauchos to five hits – two of them home runs.
After advancing to the regional final vs. Texas State, sophomore Carter Graham returned to the lineup as the designated hitter, launching a pair of home runs to guide Stanford to three on the night to knock off the Bobcats.
Graham left Saturday's loss to Texas State after colliding with the bullpen fence while making a catch in foul territory.
Graham finished the game 3 for 5 with two runs scored and five RBIs – launching a two-run homer in the bottom of the first and a three-run shot in the fourth to break a 2-2 tie.
The multi-homer game was the third of the year for Graham and pushed his season home run total to a Pac-12-best 22. Graham's 22 home runs are tied for fourth-most for a single season in Stanford history. His 77 RBIs also rank tied for sixth in Stanford history.
Sophomore Drew Bowser launched the third and final homer of the night for Stanford, connecting for a two-run shot in the three-run seventh inning to provide some breathing room against a potent Texas State offense.
The round-tripper was the 14th of the season for Bowser and was Stanford's 102nd of the year – matching a program record set in 1997.
Park continued to set the table at the bottom of the order, finishing 3 for 4 with a run scored out of the eighth spot in the lineup. Over the two games on Sunday, Park went 6 for 7 with two runs scored and a pair of walks.
A trio of Stanford hurlers combined to limit Texas State to four runs on four hits – including a pair of solo-homers. Freshman Ty Uber got the start and tossed five innings, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks while striking out two to pick up the win and move to 4-1. The only real blemishes were solo homers allowed to Jose Gonzalez and Dalton Shuffield.
Brandt Pancer was charged with an unearned run over two innings before Ryan Bruno shut the door in the eighth and ninth. Bruno struck out four and walked one over his two hitless innings of work to seal the victory.
Stanford defeated UC Irvine in the winner-take-all game last year en route to making its 17th appearance in the College World Series.