No. 4 Baseball loses 12-8 decision to Stanford in Austin NCAA Regional semifinal
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Longhorns scored four two-out runs in the seventh but could not overcome their five-run deficit as No. 4 Texas dropped a 12-8 decision to Stanford in front of 5,420 fans at Disch-Falk Field during the semifinal round of the Austin NCAA Regional Tournament on Saturday, June 3. With the loss to the Cardinal (32-25), who advance to the Austin NCAA Regional Championship game on Sunday, June 4 at 4 p.m. Central, UT will now play an elimination game against N.C. State (39-22) on Sunday at 12 p.m. Central. UT jumped in front 3-0 in the top of the first inning as Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas) delivered a one-out double that plated all three hitters in front of him, who had reached on three consecutive singles to load the bases. Stanford answered in the bottom of the second by loading the bases with no outs on three straight base hits before catcher John Hester connected on his second home run of the year and first career grand slam to stake the Cardinal to a 4-3 lead. One inning later in the third, Stanford used a leadoff single, a hit batter and a pair of sacrifices, including a sac fly from Jason Castro, to grab a 5-3 advantage. Preston Clark (Rockwall, Texas) then got back one run for the Longhorns with his second home run in as many days to make it a 5-4 contest in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth, Stanford sent 10 men to the plate and scored four times to break in front by a score of 9-4. After back-to-back singles from Chris Minaker and Michael Taylor opened the frame, two infield errors as well as a pair of infield hits resulted in four runs and established a five-run lead for the Cardinal. Stanford starter Nolan Gallagher, meanwhile, retired 15 of his next 17 batters after the first inning to limit UT to only one more run through the sixth. An inning later, after Joseph Krebs (Bridgeport, Texas) worked around a one-out triple in the bottom of the sixth, the Horns put together a rally as Hunter Harris (Tulsa, Okla.) and Clay Van Hook (Brenham, Texas) reached via a single and walk, respectively, with two down in the seventh. Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) then came through with a two-run double in front of RBI-singles from Chance Wheeless (Round Rock, Texas), who also stole second after driving in Stubbs, and Kainer to make it a one-run contest at 9-8. The Cardinal then countered with five singles of their own in the bottom of the eighth to bring in three runs and take a four-run lead at 12-8. Down to their final three outs, the Longhorns had Stubbs draw a two-out walk and steal second, but Stanford reliever Erik Davis got his next batter to fly out and cap the victory. While Gallagher picked up the win after tossing 6.2 innings and Davis secured his third save with 2.1 hitless innings of relief, Texas starter Kyle McCulloch (Houston, Texas) incurred the loss. Pacing the Longhorns' 10-hit attack were Kainer, who went 2-for-4 with four RBI, Wheeless, who scored twice and drove in one run with a two-hit effort, and the tandem of Stubbs and Nick Peoples (Round Rock, Texas), who each posted two hits and combined for three runs scored and two RBI. On the other side of the ledger, the Cardinal had its offense, which collected 16 hits on the afternoon, led by the trio of Taylor, Chris Lewis and Castro, who each posted three hits and scored three runs apiece, and Hester, who went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a career-best four RBI. Of additional note for UT, Wheeless and Harris are riding eight and five game hitting streaks, respectively, while Peoples, who left the game in the bottom of the fifth after sustaining a nose injury from a line drive off the turf, is listed as out as of right now. Up next, the Horns tangle with the Wolfpack of N.C. State in a regional elimination game at Disch-Falk Field on Sunday, June 4 at 12 p.m. Central. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-982-BEVO or logging on to www.TexasBoxOffice.com. Notably, the game will be televised by ESPNU, carried on radio in Austin on 1300 AM "The Zone" and have live audio as well as stats provided on www.TexasSports.com. NCAA Regional Tournament Game Notes Tournament Notes: Texas (41-20): Stanford (32-25):
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