In Saturday’s series opener between Stanford and No. 7 Texas, it was the Longhorns’ pitching that dominated — sophomore Adrian Alaniz and freshman Joey Parigi stepped up to limit the Cardinal to two runs on just four hits as Texas won 4-2. A day later, the Stanford trio of senior Matt Manship, sophomore Nolan Gallagher and freshman Jeremy Bleich returned the favor by silencing the Texas bats in a 5-1 Cardinal victory.

Enlarge
#gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/5717
Adrian Gaitan

Junior leftfielder Ryan Seawell was held hitless by Texas pitching this weekend. Stanford's hurlers were up to par with the defending champs, however, and kept the Longhorns at bay on Sunday.

Fittingly, Monday’s series finale at Sunken Diamond was also decided by a noteworthy pitching performance. But this time, it was a pitching performance of an entirely different quality.

The Longhorns pitching staff fell apart in the bottom of third. Three Texas pitchers who appeared in the inning combined to surrender nine runs while walking five and allowing three hits.

After walking Stanford centerfielder Jim Rapoport with the bases loaded, Texas hurler Kenn Kasparek finally found the plate.

But when he did, senior shortstop Chris Minaker was ready. With one quick, crushing blow, Minaker launched a bases-loaded moonshot over the left field wall, pulling the Cardinal ahead by an 11-4 margin. The Longhorns (5-6) fought back to within four runs of a tie, but Stanford junior Blake Holler and freshman Sean Ratliff slammed the door on the Texas comeback as the Cardinal (6-3) took the game, and the series, with the 13-9 victory.

While Minaker was the offensive hero yesterday — going 4-5 with a double, a grand slam, and five RBIs — sophomore rightfielder Michael Taylor provided the pop at the plate for the Cardinal on Sunday. Taylor pushed Stanford to an early three-run lead with a base-clearing double to the right field gap in the third inning. Two innings later, he drove in his fourth run of the day on a sacrifice fly.

The pitching of Manship, Gallagher and Bleich was just as key in the victory. Manship worked into the fifth inning while allowing the Longhorns’ lone run of the afternoon. Gallagher and Bleich wrapped the contest up by holding the Texas lineup hitless.

“We hit the ball better today and got some good pitching,” said coach Mark Marquess, contrasting Sunday’s performance with the team’s discouraging offensive performance in the series opener.

From the very beginning, the rubber game of the series seemed destined to be a high-scoring affair. Texas first baseman Kyle Russell put the Longhorns on the board first with a two-run triple in the first inning, but Minaker and Taylor both notched RBI hits in the bottom half of the inning. Texas reclaimed the lead with two more runs in the third, but their lead would be short-lived.

Taylor and freshman first baseman Jason Castro started a one-out rally with back-to-back singles. After a wild pitch, Texas starter Kyle McCulloch hit catcher John Hester with a pitch to load the bases. At that point, Longhorns manager Augie Garrido made a call to the bullpen, bringing in freshman lefthander Kyle Walker.

The move didn’t pay off, as Walker walked all four batters he faced, putting the Cardinal on top 6-4. Kasparek came on in relief and walked Rapoport, setting the stage for Minaker’s blast.

“Coach gave me the green light,” Minaker said. “[Kasparek] threw a fastball right where I was looking, but the key there was to try not to do too much.”

Regardless of Minaker’s intent, his swing sent the pitch rocketing well into the trees behind the leftfield wall. The Cardinal picked up two more runs before the end of the game, one off a Rapoport solo homerun and the other on a sacrifice fly from senior Chris Lewis.

Holler went 4.2 innings before yielding to Ratliff in the eighth with runners on second and third. Ratliff allowed just one run before retiring the side, and fanned four of the 10 batters he faced in his two innings of work. Marquess spoke highly of the efforts put forth by both pitchers in yesterday’s contest.

“For Blake, it was the first time he’s been out in awhile,” he said. “It’s the longest he’s worked this season, and it was something he needed. And Sean did a pretty good job, coming in and throwing strikes in a tough situation there in the eighth.”

By taking two of three from the Longhorns, the Cardinal improved their record to 6-3. Perhaps of greater significance, though, was the momentum boost gained from knocking off the defending national champions.

“You definitely do think about it,” said Minaker when asked whether Texas’ title was of any significance to the Cardinal. “This series has huge ramifications for NCAA seedings. And as much as you may say that you look at it like any other series, there’s always a little something extra in the air against a big team like Texas.”

Because of the weekend’s rain delay, the Cardinal take on Nevada this afternoon at 2 p.m. before heading to Fresno State this weekend.