Feb. 23, 2003
Austin, Tex. - No. 4 Texas (12-3) avoided a sweep with a 7-1 victory over No. 10 Stanford (9-6) in the series finale before a crowd of 6,017 spectators at Disch-Falk Field on Sunday, one day after the Cardinal had swept the Longhorns in a doubleheader. Stanford had its season-long six-game win streak snapped in its attempt to sweep the Longhorns in a three-game series for the first time in school history.
"The difference in today's game was that Texas got the big hit when they had runners on base and we didn't," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "It was a good series."
Dustin Majewski (2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) homered and drove in three runs to lead the Longhorns' attack. Eric Sultemeier (3-4, RBI, SB) and Tim Moss (2-5, SB) also had multiple-hit games for Texas.
Texas reliever Josh Smith (2-0) earned the victory with 2.0 scoreless one-hit innings of middle relief.
Stanford starter Jonny Dyer (0-1) took the loss in his first career start, allowing two runs and two hits in a career-high 3.0 innings.
John Mayberry, Jr. (2-4) and Tobin Swope (2-4) had two hits each for the Cardinal. Mayberry extended his career-high hit streak to eight games and has hit safely in 14 of his first 15 collegiate games. Ryan Garko's season-high eight-game hit streak ended with an 0-for-4 performance.
Stanford took an early 1-0 lead and scored its only run of the game in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Danny Putnam. Garko led off the inning when he reached on an error by Texas third baseman Michael Hollimon, moved to second base on a single by Mayberry and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jed Lowrie. The Cardinal missed a couple of chances to score more in the inning when Mayberry was cut down at the plate trying to score from second base on Putnam's single and Brian Hall popped up to Texas second baseman Tim Moss with the bases loaded to end the inning.
Texas tied the score at 1-1 with a run in the bottom of the second frame when J.D. Reininger led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Curtis Thigpen and scored on a two-out RBI single by Sultemeier that dropped just in front of diving Stanford's Carlos Quentin in right field.
The Longhorns took a 2-1 lead when Majewski led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a solo homer.
Stanford left the bases loaded for the second time in the game in top of the fifth when Smith retired Garko on a line out to Quintanilla at shortstop to end the inning after relieving Longhorn starter Eugene Espineli (4.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO).
Texas added to its lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth. Tim Moss singled with one out, stole second base and scored on an RBI single by Omar Quintanilla that extended his career-high hit streak to 21 games. Stanford reliever Kodiak Quick saved the Cardinal from possible further damage when he forced Majewski into an inning-ending double play on his first pitch.Texas scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to extend its lead to 7-1 with Majewski's clutch two-out, two-RBI double to score Joe Ferin and Moss on a 3-2 pitch from Stanford reliever Mark Jecmen highlighting the rally. The first Texas run of the frame scored when Sultemeier singled to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Hollimon and came home on Ferin's RBI single. Texas finished its four-run rally on an RBI single by Reininger to score Majewski.
Stanford left eight runners on base, while the Longhorns stranded six.
Stanford went errorless for the third straight game and the fifth time in its last six contests.
Stanford and Texas have played 14 times in the last three seasons with the Cardinal sporting a slim 8-6 lead in those contests. The Cardinal leads the all-time series, 15-12-1.
Stanford will return to Sunken Diamond for back-to-back non-conference series versus USC (Friday-Sunday, February 28-March 2) and California (Friday-Sunday, March 7-9). Both Friday games begin at 6:00 pm with starts scheduled on Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 pm.