The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Stanford
No. 12 Baseball falls to No. 2 Stanford, 6-2
02.25.2012 | Baseball
Feb. 25, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - For the second consecutive day, the No. 12 Texas Longhorns found themselves in an early deficit and were unable to erase it against the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal. Texas lost a 6-2 decision to Stanford at Sunken Diamond on Saturday afternoon.
Stanford drew first blood in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, Kenny Diekroeger deposited a double down the leftfield line. A fielding error at shortstop by Jordan Eiter allowed Christian Griffiths to reach first. Lonnie Kauppila bounced a double down the leftfield line to push Diekroeger across for the game's first run. Eric Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Griffiths for the 2-0 lead.
The Cardinal inflated the cushion to 5-0 with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Austin Wilson opened the frame with a solo home run over that drifted over the leftfield fence. Jake Stewart followed with a wall-banger to leftfield for a double. Ricky Jacquez came in to relieve starter Hoby Milner for the Longhorns and walked Tyler Gaffney before inducing a groundout by Steve Piscotty to put two runners in scoring position. After Brian Ragira struck out swinging, Diekroeger doubled down the rightfield line to push two across for the five-run advantage.
Texas trimmed the lead with a run in the top of the sixth. Erich Weiss was hit by a pitch to start the inning. After Alex Silver popped out, Kevin Lusson drew a walk and Jonathan Walsh hit a two-out single to leftfield to knock Weiss in, cutting the gap to 5-1.
Stanford tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. With one out, Wilson reached base when Longhorns' second baseman Brooks Marlow was unable to hold onto a diving attempt on a ball down the rightfield line resulting in a double. Stewart followed up with a single laced through the left side of the infield to give the Cardinal a 6-1 lead.
Texas mounted a late charge in the ninth, but it came up short. With one out, Marlow drew a walk, Tim Maitland was hit by a pitch and Mark Payton drew a walk to load the bases. Jordan Etier knocked in Marlow with a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 6-2, but Weiss ended the game with a deep fly out to centerfield.
Brett Mooneyham (2-0) earned the victory for Stanford. He scattered three runs and three walks while striking out seven to allow just one run over 8.0 innings. Dean McArdle pitched the ninth inning, allowing one run on two walks.
Milner (1-1) was saddled with the loss for Texas. He allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits and one walk, while striking out two over 4.0 innings.
Stewart and Diekroeger each tallied three hits for the Cardinal. Stewart went 3-for-5 with one run, one double, one RBI and one stolen base. Diekroeger went 3-for-3 with one run, two doubles, two RBI and one stolen base.
The series wraps up on Sunday with a 3 p.m. Central contest at Sunken Diamond. Stanford will be looking for its first-ever sweep of the series between the two teams. The all-time series is currently tied at 27-27-1.
