Feb. 18, 2006
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Stanford, Calif. - Adrian Alaniz and Joey Parigi combined on a four-hitter to lift defending national champion and No. 7 Texas (5-4) to a 4-2 victory over No. 24 Stanford (4-3) in the delayed opener of a three-game non-conference series Saturday at Sunken Diamond. Alaniz (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO) earned the victory to improve to 2-0 before Parigi (3.1 IP, 1 H, 2 SO) retired 10 of the 11 batters he faced to pick up his first save of the campaign.
"Both Texas pitchers did a really good job of keeping us off balance today," explained Stanford head coach Mark Marquess.
Drew Stubbs (3-5, RBI) led the Longhorns offense, while Jordan Danks had a key two-out, two-RBI single in the top of the first to give Texas an early 2-0 advantage. Kyle Russell (2-3, 2B), Nick Peoples (2-4, 2 SB) and Carson Kainer (2-4) each added a pair of hits for the Longhorns, who outhit Stanford by a 12-4 count.
"They also did a good job at the plate today," added Marquess. "They had a lot of hits and really could have broken it open with a couple more big hits. We were able to win a couple of big spots with guys on base to stay close."
The Longhorns stranded 10 runners, while the Cardinal left just four on base.
Michael Taylor and Chris Lewis drove in the two Cardinal runs in the first two innings.
Taylor's two-out RBI-double in the bottom of the first that brought home Chris Minaker, who had started the rally with a two-out walk, was the team's only extra-bagger and one of only two in the game on a cold day with the gametime temperature at 53 degrees.
Lewis tied the game at 2-2 with his clutch two-out RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the second that scored Sean Ratliff. However, Stanford was unable to cause any more damage in the inning despite the back-to-back leadoff walks Alaniz issued to John Hester and Ratliff, and an error later in the inning by Stubbs that allowed Lewis to go all the way to third base after his single up the middle was misplayed by the Longhorn centerfielder. The threat was stymied by a failed sacrifice bunt attempt and a picked off runner.
Stanford would manage only two hits the rest of the way after Lewis' second inning single as Alaniz settled down to retire 10 in a row before a sixth inning leadoff single by Jim Rapoport. An Alaniz wild pitch moved Rapoport to second and a Minaker grounder sent him to third but Parigi left him there by coming on with two outs and striking out pinch-hitter Brent Milleville.
"We just didn't generate much offense today," said Marquess.
Parigi would allow only Cord Phelps' two-out pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth during his stint.
Danks two-RBI single in the top of the first was set up when Chais Fuller drew a one-out walk and moved to second a Stubbs single before the runners advanced to second and third on Bradley Suttle's groundout.
Texas went ahead, 3-2, when Russell singled to lead off the fourth, moved to second on sacrifice bunt from Clay VanHook and third on a single from Peoples, before hustling home to beat a close play at the plate after Reynolds' wild pitch bounced away from Hester's grasp.
The Longhorns added an insurance tally in the top of the ninth off Cardinal reliever Erik Davis (2.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO). Peoples started the inning with a leadoff single and moved to second on Fuller's sacrifice bunt, before stealing third and scoring on an RBI single from Stubbs. David Stringer (0.2 IP, 1 K) came on to get the final two outs for the Cardinal.
Stanford starter Greg Reynolds (6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO) took the loss.
The schedule for the remainder of the Texas series has changed for the second time with single games now scheduled for Sunday and Monday, starting both days at 1 pm, PT. Texas is slated to go with RHP Kyle McCullough (0-1, 1.74) on Sunday versus Stanford RHP Matt Manship (0-1, 9.95). The Longhorns have also announced RHP Randy Boone (1-0, 4.15) as their probable starter for Monday, while Stanford has yet to make an announcement.
The change in schedule for the Texas series has caused Stanford's game versus Nevada originally scheduled for Monday to be moved back to Tuesday at 2 pm, PT. Neither Stanford nor Nevada has named a probable pitcher for Tuesday's contest.
Tickets for Friday's postponed game versus Texas will now be accepted for Monday's rescheduled contest against the Longhorns. Tickets for the game versus Nevada originally scheduled for Monday will now be accepted for Tuesday's contest against the Wolf Pack. Tickets for Friday's postponed game versus Texas and Monday's game against Nevada that has now been moved to Tuesday will also be accepted to any remaining regular season game (space permitted).