Feb. 18, 2001
Austin, Tex. - Ryan Hubele's one-out RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Matt Rosenberg and lifted Texas (6-6) to a 2-1 victory over #9 Stanford (9-4), ending Stanford's season-high winning streak at seven games. Albert Montes (2-0) tossed his first career complete game and the first of the season for the Longhorns, scattering six hits and one run. Montes struck out six and walked one.
"We didn't do anything against Montes," said Marquess. "It was the best performance all year against us. He pitched a masterful game and kept us off balance the entire day."Stanford starter Tim Cunningham allowed only one run and four hits in the first 7.0 innings before being relieved by John Hudgins to begin the eighth frame. Cunningham, who was attempting to win his fourth consecutive start, received no decision while Hudgins (0-3) was charged with the loss.
Hubele (2-3, 2 2B, RBI) and Rosenberg (2-3) led the Texas offensive attack with two hits each. Ken Tirpack (2-3) and Jason Cooper (2-4, 2B, RBI) had two hits each for the Cardinal.
The game was scoreless through the first five innings until Stanford finally broke the 0-0 tie with a run in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Cooper stretched a line drive to left-center field into a double and came home when Scott Dragicevich followed with an RBI single up the middle.
Texas answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, tying the score at 1-1 on an RBI single by Ben King. After two were out, the Longhorns loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit batsmen by Cunningham. The inning had appeared to be over before the Longhorns scored. With two outs and runners on first and second base, Cunningham's first pitch to Jeff Ontiveros was at his feet and Ontiveros reacted as if he had been hit by the pitch although the home plate umpire signaled only a ball and did not give an indication of a hit batsmen. The Cardinal apparently picked off Hubele on the play when he was forced off second base by Sam Anderson, who had thought Ontiveros had been hit by the pitch. The Cardinal ran off the field before the play was later overruled by the second base umpire, leaving the Longhorns with the bases loaded and setting up King's RBI single.
"What happened on the play was that the home plate and first base umpires didn't think Ontiveros was hit by the pitch, and the second base umpire thought that he was," explained Marquess. "My only thing is that it's like a foul ball. If he's hit by a pitch, you call it. You don't wait. That's the only thing that concerns me about it. I didn't know (if he was hit by the pitch). The pitch hit something. I didn't know what it was."
Stanford will next be in action when the Cardinal and Santa Clara face off in a three-game series on February 23-25. Friday's series opener (6:00 p.m.) and Sunday's finale (1:00 p.m.) will be played at Santa Clara, while Saturday's middle game will be held at Stanford's Sunken Diamond (1:00 p.m.).