Feb. 16, 2007
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Round Rock, Texas - No. 14 Texas (5-4) got four solo homers from its offense while the team's pitchers recorded 16 strikeouts on the way to a 5-3 victory over Stanford (2-4) in the opener of a three-game series at The Dell Diamond on Friday. Kyle Russell had two of the solo shots, while Travis Tucker and Chais Fuller also added one each. Winning pitcher James Russell (1-1) recorded nine strikeouts in his 5.0 innings before reliever Joseph Krebs picked up seven more in 3.2 frames before Randy Boone recorded his second save of the season by getting Toby Gerhart to hit into a game-ending fielder's choice as the tying run with two outs in the top of the ninth.
Stanford was able to get the tying run to the plate in the ninth when pinch-hitter Jeff Whitlow doubled with two outs and Adam Gaylord followed with an RBI single to cut the Texas lead to 5-3 and give the Cardinal its first run since scoring one in each of the first two innings.
Kyle Russell (2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI) was the only player for Texas with more than one hit as the Longhorns managed to collect just six against four Stanford pitchers.
Ryan Seawell had a solo homer for the Cardinal, while Gaylord (2-4, RBI) and Brent Milleville (2-4) each had two hits as the Cardinal outhit the Longhorns, 9-6.
Stanford starter Nolan Gallagher (0-2) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts in his 6.0 innings of work. Austin native Brandt Walker (0.1 IP, 1 BB, 1 SO), Blake Hancock (0.2 IP, 1 BB, 1 SO) and Erik Davis (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER) also pitched in relief for the Cardinal.
Stanford started the scoring in the top of the first when Sean Ratliff drew a one-out walk, stole second base and scored two batters later on Milleville's RBI single through the right side of the infield.
Seawell made it 2-0 in favor of the Cardinal with his second inning solo shot over the leftcenter field wall.
Texas got one run back in the bottom of the second when Kyle Russell hit the first of his two solo homers on a high fly ball that just got over the fence in left.
The Longhorns took a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Russell started the rally again when he hit Gallagher's first pitch of the frame out of the deepest part of the ballpark over the 407-foot sign in rightcenter field. Chance Wheeless restarted the rally with a single and ended up on third base after two sacrifice bunts and a hit batsmen before Nick Peoples brought him home with an infield single. Gallagher would walk Jordan Danks to load the bases before getting out of the inning without any further damage by retiring Preston Clark on a fly out to Michael Taylor in right field.
Tucker hit the third solo homer of the game for Texas when he led off the sixth with a blast over the left field wall and a one-out solo homer by Fuller in the bottom of the eighth closed out the Longhorns' scoring.
Stanford did not score again after the second until its comeback bid in the ninth but twice had runners on first and second base with just one out in the fourth and fifth innings before James Russell was able to quell the rallies.
"This was an unusual game with the combination of solo homers and strikeouts," said Stanford head coach Mark Marquess. "You have to give Texas credit. Their pitchers did a good job on the mound and their hitters made us pay for our mistakes."
Stanford and Texas continue the three-game series this Saturday-Sunday, February 16-18. The series is being played at The Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, due to construction at Disch-Falk Field. The Dell Diamond is the Houston Astros AAA facility and located approximately 19 miles from Austin.
Following the Texas series, the Cardinal will return home to Sunken Diamond for 11 of its 12 next contests beginning with a single game versus San Francisco on Tuesday, February 20 (5 pm, PT). Stanford will then host Kansas in a three-game series next Friday-Sunday, February 23-25 (5 pm, 1 pm, 11 am, PT). Tickets for all regular season Stanford Baseball home games are available online at gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD. For group ticket information (groups of 10 or more), call 650-725-2876.