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Baseball

Bubic Hooks Horns

Box Score

AUSTIN, Texas – Nico Hoerner and Brandon Wulff hit home runs and left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic earned the win in a 7-1 triumph over No. 23 Texas on Friday night at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

"We locked in tonight against a very capable Friday-night starter after a tough loss in Game 1," said Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer. "We switched up the lineup a little bit, and I thought Bubic's stuff was as good as it's been all year against a very good ball club."

Kris Bubic (3-0) looked sharp in 6.0 innings of work, striking out nine while scattering three hits. Nico Hoerner and Brandon Wulff each hit their second home runs of the season, with Hoerner and Christian Molfetta finishing with three hits apiece.

Bubic, so hot right now, Bubic. ?? #GoStanford

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Hoerner's home run came in the opening frame, a solo line shot over the left field fence to give the Cardinal a quick advantage over the Longhorns (9-5). Stanford manufactured a second run in the third courtesy of Andrew Daschbach, whose line-drive single on an 0-2 pitch scored Tawa.

Bubic pitched around a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the third to preserve Stanford's 2-0 lead at the time. He eventually made way for Jacob Palisch in the seventh – Palisch limited the damage to one run after entering with runners on second and third and no outs.

"Last night we did a great job of coming back, but we just couldn't finish the job," added Esquer. "Even with a big lead, we knew we were facing a team capable of stringing together a lot of base runners. Palisch did a great job coming into that jam and Grech shut the door and made sure nothing got started."

Wulff's big swing of the bat came in the fifth, sending a moon shot over the left field wall to score Hoerner and Tawa and open up a 5-0 Stanford lead. After Texas' run in the seventh, Stanford responded with two more in the eighth. Jesse Kuet drew a walk with the bases loaded, and Tawa picked up his team-leading 12th RBI with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.

Stanford looks to grab the series lead tomorrow when Erik Miller takes the mound for Game 3 against the Longhorns at 12:30 p.m. PT. The game will air on Longhorn Network with live statistics available at GoStanford.com.

Cardinal Notes

  • Stanford set a new season high with 13 hits, including 10 off starter Nolan Kingham, who finished surrendering five runs, all earned.
  • Maverick Handley threw out David Hamilton's stolen base attempt, the only of the game for Texas – entering the week, Hamilton ranked eighth in the nation with nine stolen bases.
  • The Cardinal has won Bubic's last 11 starts, dating to April 13, 2017.
  • Serving as the designated hitter, Christian Molfetta's three-hit night was a career high and the first multi-hit game of his career.
  • Hoerner finished 3-5 with one RBI, one double and two runs scored after an unlucky night at the plate Thursday – three of his outs were line drives straight at outfielders.
  • Tawa has multiple hits in three straight contests, upping his average to .333.
  • Bubic's ERA dropped to 1.54 – he has struck out 27 compared to seven walks in 23.1 innings pitched.

--#GoStanford--