<p>STANFORD, Calif. — Tim Tawa hit two home runs, Alex Williams allowed one run and three hits with nine strikeouts over seven innings and Stanford beat North Dakota State 9-1 on Friday in the opening game of the double-elimination Stanford Regional. </p>
<p>Tawa was 3 for 4 with four RBIs and three runs and was one of nine Stanford (34-14) players with at least one hit. </p>
<p>Tawa led off the fourth inning with a tie-breaking solo shot and, after Brock Jones reached on an error, Kody Huff hit a two-run homer to left field to make it 4-1. Adam Crampton and Eddie Park hit back-to-back singles before Tawa homered to give the Cardinal an 8-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh. </p>
<p>Jack Simonsen went 2 for 3 and Bennett Hostetler hit a solo home run for North Dakota State (41-18). </p>
<p>Stanford’s Tommy Troy hit a <a href="https://twitter.com/StanfordBSB/status/1400918235407536128">homer</a> to open the scoring in the bottom of the third inning, Tawa scored on a double by Brock Jones in the fifth, and Drew Bowser’s single in the eighth inning scored Nick Brueser. </p>
<p>The Bison are making the second NCAA Tournament appearance in program history and their first since 2014. </p>
<p>It was the first-ever meeting between the teams. </p>
<p>____</p>
<p>More NCAA baseball tournament coverage: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/college-world-series">https://apnews.com/hub/college-world-series</a></p>
