Feb. 18, 2005
Austin, Tex. - No. 4 Texas (9-0) opened a key three-game non-conference series versus No. 6 Stanford (7-3) with a 6-4 victory over the Cardinal on Friday at Disch-Falk Field. Relievers Clayton Stewart and J. Brent Cox held Stanford scoreless on just one hit over the final 5.0 innings. Stewart picked up the victory to improve to 4-0, allowing just one hit and one walk with a pair of strikeouts in 3.0 frames. Cox struck out the first five batters he faced in 2.0 innings of scoreless work to record his second save. Drew Stubbs (3-4, 2B, SB, 2 RBI) led the Longhorns' offensive attack.
Jed Lowrie hit his team-leading fifth homer of the year for the Cardinal, a three-run shot in the third inning that gave Stanford a brief 4-2 lead. Michael Taylor (2-4) had two of Stanford's five hits.
Michael Taylor (2-4) had two of Stanford's five hits on Friday with his second consecutive multiple-hit game |
Clay Van Hook (2-4, 2 RBI) and Taylor Teagarden (2-5, SB) also had multiple-hit games for the Longhorns, who outhit Stanford by a 12-5 count but left 12 runners on base to keep Stanford in the game. Texas also converted five successful sacrifice bunts in the contest, all coming in the first six innings after a Longhorn leadoff hitter had reached base.
"Texas just played better than we did today," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "Their relievers really did a nice job of shutting out hitters down, and they manufactured some runs offensively."
Stanford starter Mark Romanczuk (2-2) took the loss by allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits and a pair of walks with just one strikeout over the first 3.1 innings in his shortest start of the season. Cardinal reliever Erik Davis kept Stanford in the ballgame by holding the Longhorns to just one run on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts over the final 4.2 frames.
Texas starter Buck Cody lasted 4.0 innings in a no-decision outing, allowing four runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.Texas started the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Stubbs walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Seth Johnston, stole third and scored on a clutch two-out RBI single by Carson Kainer.
Stanford missed out on a critical scoring opportunity in the top of the second. John Mayberry, Jr. led off the frame with a double and Chris Minaker walked to put Cardinal runners on first and second with no outs. Adam Sorgi bunted on the next play but popped the ball up just in front of Cody, who short-hopped the ball before throwing to third base to retire Mayberry. Minaker was then put out at second base when Van Hook tossed the ball to Johnston covering the bag for a double play.
The Longhorns took a 2-0 lead with an unearned run in the second. Leadoff hitter Chance Wheeless had his at bat extended when Cardinal leftfielder Chris Lewis dropped a foul fly ball and then made the Cardinal pay with a leadoff single. Robby Hudson moved Wheeless to second with a sacrifice bunt before Stubbs doubled him home.
Pinch-hitter Jeff Boes started Stanford's four-run third inning with a single before a walk to Jim Rapoport and a single by Taylor loaded the bases with no outs. Hester brought home Boes with a sacrifice fly before Lowrie's three-run blast capped the rally.
Texas came right back to take a 5-4 advantage with three runs in its half of the third. Kainer drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Thomas Incaviglia. Will Crouch then beat out an infield single to move Kainer to third before Van Hook came up with a bunt single to score Kainer. Hudson singled home Crouch two batters later to tie the score at 4-4. Stubbs gave the Longhorns the lead for good with an infield single on a hard-hit ball that Mayberry gloved with a diving effort to his right but had no one to throw to at first base.
The Longhorns picked up another run in the sixth on a clutch two-out RBI single by Van Hook that scored Teagarden, who had led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kainer.
"They came through in big spots with guys on base," said Romanczuk. "You want to avoid having them get the leadoff guy on, and they were able to do that a lot today."
Only one Stanford runner would reach base between the fourth and sixth innings before the Cardinal loaded the bases but came up empty in the top of the seventh. Lewis walked to lead off the inning but after back-to-back fielders choices by Brendan Domaracki and Rapoport, Stanford still had just a runner on first base with two outs. Taylor kept the inning alive with a single up the middle before Hester was hit by a pitch to load the bases but Stewart got Lowrie on a deep fly ball to Kainer in leftcenter field to end the threat.
The teams continue the series on Saturday (2 pm, CT/12 pm, PT). RHP Jeff Gilmore (2-0, 1.89 ERA) is expected to start on the hill for the Cardinal versus Texas RHP Kyle McCulloch (1-0, 4.85).
STANFORD NOTES
Stanford had its season-best four-game win streak snapped with the loss
Stanford will need to win the final two games of its current series versus Texas to extend its regular season series win streak against the Longhorns to five
Stanford has homered in nine of its first 10 games and has outhomered its opponents this season, 14-5
Michael Taylor posted his second consecutive two-hit game
John Mayberry, Jr. extended his season-high hit streak to six games
Stanford's infield has made just one error in the team's first 10 contests
The 4595 fans marked the largest crowd the Cardinal has played in front of this season
Stanford was held to five or fewer hits for the third time this season
Stanford has still not allowed a run in the fifth inning this season, outscoring its opponents by a margin of 12-0
Stanford's loss was its first in a day game this season as the Cardinal fell to 7-1 during the day
Stanford needs to win both of the final two games of the series to avoid losing its fourth consecutive regular season road series for the first time since the Cardinal dropped seven straight regular season road series from April 29, 1988 - April 10, 1989