Baseball: Big 2nd Inning Leads Texas Past Stanford Cardinal

The Texas Longhorns erupted for five runs in the bottom of the second inning and cruised to a 9-3 win over the Stanford Cardinal Friday in the opener of a three-game series at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Texas.

Each team scored in the first inning, but the Longhorns (4-2) broke the game open off Stanford (2-3) starter Cal Quantrill in the second. Tres Barrera led off the inning with a single to right and was erased on a fielder’s choice when Ben Johnson’s bunt was fielded well by Quantrill, who got the out at second.

Johnson moved up to second on a balk by Quantrill and advanced to third on a grounder to shortstop by Zane Gerwitz.

Quantrill was almost out of the inning when Brooks Marlow struck out swinging, but the pitch got away and Marlow was safe on a wild pitch. Mark Payton made the Cardinal pay for the miscue, driving a triple into the right-center field gap to score both runners, putting Texas up 3-1. C.J. Hinojosa singled to right on an 0-2 pitch to score Payton and Kacy Clemens walked to put runners at first and second. Andy McGwire laced a single to right to score Hinojosa to make it 5-1 and Jeremy Mantalbano drove in the final run of the inning with a double to right-center field.

That was it for Quantrill (0-2), who gave up six runs on six hits with three walks and a strikeout in two innings of work.

Texas added a run in the seventh on another RBI double by Montalbano.

Stanford rallied for a two-spot in the eighth off reliever Morgan Cooper. Danny Diekroeger walked to lead off the inning and moved up to third on a double to right by Alex Blandino. Cooper balked the run in from third and moved Blandino up to third base and Austin Slater grounded a single through the left side of the infield to make it 7-3.

But the Longhorns got the runs back in the bottom of the eighth on back-to-back RBI singles by Marlow and Payton.

Stanford got its first run in the top of the first. Wayne Taylor started it with a one-out single and moved up to second on Diekroeger’s base hit to left. Blandino was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Taylor scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Slater. The Longhorns got the out at second base on the ground ball, but couldn’t turn the double play.

Texas tied it with a sacrifice fly by McGuire in the bottom of the first.

French (1-1) allowed one run on four hits in six innings with a walk and eight strikeouts.

Brett Michael Doran and Tommy Edman had two hits apiece for the Cardinal. Payton went 4-for-5 with three RBI for the Longhorns, while Montalbano and Gurwitz had two hits apiece.

The teams square off in the second game of the series on Saturday at noon Pacific.