NCAA baseball: Stanford in tough spot after coughing up lead to Texas A&M

Stanford allowed three runs in the top of the eighth inning in an 8-4 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday night at Sunken Diamond and now needs a win over Cal St. Fullerton to keep its season alive.

Stanford led Texas A&M 4-2 after five innings of its own regional bracket in the NCAA tournament but allowed two runs in the sixth inning and three more in the eighth.

In the eighth, the Aggies loaded the bases before Hunter Haas doubled to left to score three runs and give his team the lead for good.

Hass finished with two hits and five RBI as Texas A&M advanced to Monday’s regional final at 6 p.m. Whichever team meets the Aggies in the final will need to beat them twice to advance to the Super Regionals next week.

Eddie Park and Alberto Rios both had two hits for Stanford (39-17), which faces Fullerton on Sunday at noon. Braden Montgomery added a two-run homer in the first inning.

Stanford and Fullerton played a three-game against each other in February to start the season, with the Cardinal winning twice in Orange County.

Santa Clara 9, Arizona 3: The Broncos broke open a close game at the Fayetteville Regional with three runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh as they outlasted the Wildcats and kept their season alive.

Leading the elimination game by three after five innings, Santa Clara (36-19) got an RBI single from Dawson Brigman and a two-run homer from Michael O’Hara in the sixth to take a 6-0 lead.

Eamonn Lance hit a solo home run in the seventh, followed by a Ben Steck sacrifice fly to center that scored Malcolm Williams for an 8-0 lead.

The start of the game was delayed for four hours because of inclement weather in the area. That didn’t bother Broncos right-hander Cade Pilchard, who started and allowed just one earned run and struck out four over six innings.

Santa Clara will take on the loser of Sunday’s contest between Arkansas and TCU. Those two teams play at 11 a.m. with the game against the Broncos at 5 p.m. The regional championship game is set for Monday.

Fullerton 9, San Jose State 5: The Spartans hit five solo home runs, but couldn’t keep up with Cal State Fullerton in an elimination game Saturday at the Stanford Regional.

San Jose State allowed seven runs in the first four innings and never fully recovered at Sunken Diamond.

The Spartans, who captured Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament titles, finished the season with a record of 31-27. SJSU was 6-30 in 2021 but improved to 30-29 last season.

“This team put us back on the map,” Spartans coach Brad Sanfilippo said. “It’s a storied program with great history. It’s been a really successful program for a long time.

“Some struggles here in the past decade or so, but what this group has done for the alumni that take a lot of pride in this program and for our university, I think that everyone can be proud of this group for what they have believed in and achieved in getting us back to a regional.”

Of San Jose State’s five home runs, two were by hit Antioch native Charles McAdoo, who went deep in both the fourth and eighth innings. Jake Collette also homered in the top of the fourth, as the Spartans cut Fullerton’s lead to 4-3.

But the Titans scored three in the bottom of the fourth, all off the bat of Caden Connor, who hit a three-run homer to left-center off Spartans pitcher Jack White.

Also hitting homers for the Spartans were San Jose’s Robert Hamchuk and Dalton Bowling. It was the first time the Spartans had hit five home runs in over a decade, but it was the third time this season that they hit four or more in a game.

Colette reached base safely in three of his four plate appearances, going 1 for 2 with a couple of walks. Left-handed pitcher Micky Thompson threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

McAdoo became the first Spartans player this season to hit two home runs in a game, accomplishing the feat for the third time in his career. In 2022, the Spartans’ second baseman hit two home runs in a game on two occasions, against UNLV on March 26 and San Diego State on April 8.

Bowling’s home run was his 12th of 2023. He hit the eighth most home runs in a single season by a Spartan in history.