The University of Texas won its fourth consecutive game with Adrian Alaniz posting the best pitching start by a Longhorn on the year in a 5-2 win over Stanford University in collegiate baseball action Saturday afternoon at The Dell Diamond.
Alaniz (2-0) fanned eight batters and allowed just one run on four hits, two of the infield variety, and three walks in seven innings.
Texas (6-4) broke the scoring seal with a pair of wind-aided runs in the second inning. Bradley Suttle led off the frame with a single up the middle. Kyle Russell followed with a fly ball that the fierce winds blew between two infielders for a single and Stanford’s shortstop followed with a throwing error trying to retire Suttle at second but whizzed the ball into right field allowing Suttle to score and Russell to reach third. Chance Wheeless followed with a fly ball that appeared to be headed towards the Cardinal centerfielder, but the wind killed the ball and a diving catch attempt was unsuccessful, giving Wheeless a double and plating Russell for a 2-0 lead.
The Longhorns inflated the cushion to 4-0 with two more runs in the third inning. Jordan Danks doubled to rightfield. A sacrifice bunt by Preston Clark pushed Danks to third and he scored on a triple to the rightfield wall by Suttle. Russell plated Danks with a sacrifice fly to give UT a four-run lead.
Texas added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Travis Tucker led off the inning with a single to centerfield, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brett Lewis and scored on a single to leftfield by Chais Fuller.
Stanford (2-5) added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. In the eighth, Adam Gaylord singled to leftfield and Sean Ratliff walked pushed runners to second and third. Randy Boone came in to relieve Alaniz and hit Toby Gerhart with a pitch to load the bases. Michael Taylor plated Gaylord with a groundout. In the ninth, Randy Molina led off with a pinch-hit single through the left side, moved to third on a pair of groundouts and scored on a single to rightfield by Gaylord.
Nick Peoples, Danks, Suttle and Wheeless had two hits apiece for the Longhorns. Wheeless logged two doubles for the second time on the season.
Jeffrey Inman was saddled with the loss for Stanford, yielding four runs on eight hits and two walks over 5.0 innings. He struck out four Longhorns.
Texas and Stanford wrap up their three-game series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
