Stanford overpowers UConn

Staying with the theme of the NCAA tournament, the Stanford super regional was forced into three games and threatened to end in a huge upset. Easily the best of the west, the Stanford Cardinal were able to gather themselves and simply overpower the UConn Huskies.

Opening the game with a bang, UConn scored three in the top of the first on a bases-clearing double by first baseman Ben Huber. Stanford kept the game close by clawing back two in the bottom half of the first, but there was no further movement from either team, despite chances both ways, until the bottom of the fourth inning.

With two men on with no outs, Adam Crampton cleared the bags with a double to put Stanford into the lead 4-3, before loading the bases again for Kody Huff to stick a grand slam into the left field stands. In the following inning, Tommy Troy ripped a solo shot to put the Cardinal up 9-3.

In the sixth inning, UConn tried to muster a response with a solo shot by Zach Bushling, giving them their first run since the first inning. Unable to string anything further together, Stanford added another run to the mix in the seventh to make it a 10-4 game.

Both teams held there and Stanford came away with the win, confirming their berth in Omaha. It was a convincing win, and was decisive, given the way that UConn steamed through them in Game 1.

There were a few things that the Cardinal needs to address on the mound to take their outstanding season on the road. Their starting pitchers have struggled mightily in the post season and they had to rely on their middle relievers doing three innings apiece to get to the win.

With a heavy reliance on a single explosive inning, they leave themselves vulnerable to more steady scoring teams to pull away from them. Today, however, they were simply too powerful for UConn.