The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Stanford
No. 7 Baseball edges No. 11 Stanford, 4-2
02.18.2006 | Baseball
STANFORD, Calif. -- Adrian Alaniz and Joey Parigi combined to hold the Cardinal to a pair of runs on four hits as No. 7 Texas pulled out a 4-2 victory over No. 11 Stanford in front of 1,994 fans at Sunken Diamond on Saturday, Feb. 18.
The win not only gave the Longhorns (5-4) their fifth triumph in their last six games and earned the club its fourth-straight victory over the Cardinal (4-3) dating back to 2005, but also pushed UT's overall record above .500 for the first time in 2006.
A one-out walk to Chais Fuller (Fairfield, Calif.), a single off the bat of Drew Stubbs (Atlanta, Texas) and a groundout to the pitcher placed runners on second and third with two away in the top of the first for the Longhorns. Freshman Jordan Danks (Round Rock, Texas) then delivered a clutch, two-out single up the middle to stake Texas to an early 2-0 advantage. In the bottom half of the opening frame, the Cardinal answered right back with a two-out run of their own as a walk to Chris Minaker was followed by a RBI-double off the bat of Michael Taylor to make it a 2-1 contest. Stanford then looked to knot the game right after Taylor's extra-base hit with a flare out to left field by Jason Castro, but Danks came on to make a run-saving catch and end the inning.
After the Horns threatened but were denied in the top of the second, the Cardinal deadlocked the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning as a two-out, RBI-single from Chris Lewis brought in Sean Ratliff with the tying run from second base. Following a scoreless third for both sides, Texas regained the lead in the fourth as, with runners on second and third and two down via two singles, a sacrifice and a steal, Kyle Russell (Magnolia, Texas) scored from third base on a wild pitch. Both starting pitchers then settled down as Alaniz (Sinton, Texas) retired 10 in a row between the second and fifth innings for Texas, while Greg Reynolds posted five strikeouts between the fourth and sixth for Stanford.
Still trailing by a score of 3-2 In the bottom of the sixth, the Cardinal looked to tie the game as Jim Rapoport led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and reached third on a groundout with only one away. Alaniz then induced a pop-up on the infield before giving way to Parigi (Monterey, Calif.), who struck out his first batter on three pitches to end the threat.
Despite being turned away by Stanford reliever Erik Davis in the eighth after placing two runners on with one out, the Horns had Nick Peoples (Round Rock, Texas) come up with a single to start the ninth and parlay it into a 4-2 Texas advantage as he moved to second on a sacrifice, stole third and scored on a RBI-base hit from Stubbs. Parigi then returned to the mound in the bottom of the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning to seal the win and pick up his first career save after allowing only one hit and striking out a pair over a career-best 3.1 innings. While Alaniz, who surrendered two runs on three hits and fanned three over 5.2 innings, earned his second straight victory to improve to 2-0 on the year, Reynolds shouldered the loss despite striking out six over six frames.
Texas' 12-hit attack was led by Stubbs, who tied a career-best with three hits while scoring one run and driving in another, and the trio of Peoples, Carson Kainer (Tomball, Texas) and Russell, who each came up with a pair of hits on the day. The Cardinal, meanwhile, had their offense led by Taylor, who came up with a RBI-double in the first inning, and Lewis, who went 1-for-3 and drove in the second Stanford run.
With the Longhorns being able to change their travel plans, these two teams square off in a single game at Sunken Diamond at 3 p.m. Central on Sunday, Feb. 19 before wrapping up the series with a 3 p.m. Central contest on Monday, Feb. 20.
