Hanewich Cools Off Penguins

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Stanford eliminated Youngstown State and stayed alive in the Bloomington Regional with an 12-4 win Sunday afternoon at Bart Kaufman Field. Brett Hanewich threw seven innings, while allowing one earned run on three hits, and Danny Diekroeger went 3-4 with three RBI to lead the Cardinal.

Stanford (32-24) moves on to tonight’s championship round against No. 4 national seed Indiana by ending Youngstown State’s season. The Penguins had won five of their last six, including the program’s first NCAA regional win Saturday against Indiana State.

A big crowd is expected for the host Hoosiers against Stanford at 3 p.m. PT. Indiana will start right-hander Christian Morris (6-3, 1.82) against Stanford lefty Logan James (3-3, 4.13).

Hanewich (4-4) struggled to find the zone in the first inning, as Youngstown State scored twice without getting a hit. The freshman right-hander walked two, hit another and the Penguins scored twice on a Diekroeger error, as the Cardinal dug itself an early hole before getting a chance to hit.

Diekroeger made up for his misplayed grounder by blasting a three-run home run as part of a six-run second. Brett Michael Doran and Tommy Edman lined back-to-back two out singles to plate the first two runs, before Diekroeger sent a 0-1 pitch into the seats in right field. Alex Blandino followed Diekroeger by clearing the left field wall on the next pitch from Youngstown State starter Ryan Krokos (0-5) to make the score 6-2.

Stanford cruised with the big lead. Hanewich settled in to retire 10 straight batters between the first and fourth innings and the Cardinal gave him three more runs on a double, three walks, a sac fly and a Youngstown State error in the fourth.

Edman and Diekroeger each had multiple hits for Stanford. Diekroeger drove in three, Blandino sent in two, on his homer and a bases-loaded walk, and Dominic Jose added two RBI.

Blandino reached base for the 26th straight game, a career high, while Austin Slater hit safely for the 20th consecutive game. Slater tied current assistant coach Ryan Garko for seventh on Stanford’s charts since 1988. 

Youngstown State (17-38) used six pitchers, five of which allowed at least one run.

Stanford’s Tyler Thorne and Sam Lindquist pitched the eighth and ninth, respectively. Thorne put up a zero, before Lindquist allowed two runs on three hits. 

Drew Jackson and Wayne Taylor hit back-to-back triples in the bottom of the eighth to plate the 12th run. The lineup tied its season-high of 12 runs, established Feb. 16 against Rice.