Stanford baseball is officially back.

The Cardinal recovered from an opening 5-2 defeat to the Texas Longhorns to post thrilling 6-5 and 12-9 victories this past weekend, winning its sixth straight series dating back to May of 2007. After its first regular-season series win at Texas in five years, Stanford (8-4) re-entered the Baseball America Top 25 rankings at No. 18.

“It’s tough to beat Texas here, so we are very fortunate to have won two out of three,” head coach Mark Marquess told GoStanford.com after the latest series against his longtime friend, Texas coach Augie Garrido.

Game One

Texas opened up an early lead Friday and shut down the Cardinal lineup, cruising to a 5-2 victory. After lead-off man Travis Tucker walked for the Longhorns in the first inning and was sacrificed to second, Jordan Danks bounced a line drive over the center field fence for a ground-rule double that scored Tucker.

With Texas on the board, Cardinal mistakes opened the floodgates. With two on in the bottom of the third, a double-play ball that would have ended the inning was misplayed, allowing two runs to score. Texas catcher Cameron Rupp would drive in another run to make it 4-0.

Another unearned run would score in the fifth after Cardinal starter Jeremy Bleich fielded a dribbler to the mound and airmailed second base, putting runners at the corners. Two straight walks then loaded the bases and sent a run home for the fourth unearned run of the game and a 5-0 Texas lead.

The cold, windy weather favored Texas’ trademark smallball style.

“We helped them a little bit today,” said Marquess. “And they don’t usually need any help.”

Texas pitcher Austin Wood kept Stanford off the scoreboard for seven innings, allowing only three hits before pinch hitter Joey August singled with two outs in the eighth. Castro then sent Wood’s final pitch over the right field fence for a two-run homer that broke the shutout.

Game Two

Stanford set the tone by scoring early in the second game. Phelps led off with a single before stealing second and moving to third on August’s single. Castro batted him home with a groundout to give Stanford a 1-0 lead. Texas took a 2-1 lead with a run in each of the first two innings off of Stanford starter Erik Davis.

Phelps reached again on a walk in the third, scoring on a sacrifice fly by August to tie the game at 2. Stanford opened up a 4-2 lead when Castro walked in the fifth to load the bases, setting up Randy Molina’s two-run double.

Texas fans booed the umpire’s strike zone all day and got especially heated when Texas right fielder Kyle Russell was ejected after arguing a called third strike, the second member of the Longhorn personnel tossed in the first two days.

A two-out Texas walk in the fifth set up Tucker’s triple into the left field corner, cutting the lead to one run. After a double and a walk opened the bottom of the sixth, heralded freshman Drew Storen entered to relieve Davis. The first batter he faced tied the game by singling to center field, followed by a groundout that brought home the go-ahead run.

The lead did not last long. August reached first on a fielder’s choice in the ensuing inning, and Castro blasted his second two-run homer in as many days to give Stanford a 6-5 lead.

Storen walked Tucker in the bottom of the seventh to put the tying run on base, but after a steal and a single advanced him to third, Storen struck out Texas’ No. 3 and No. 4 hitters to end the inning. The Longhorns’ last chance came when Rupp singled to lead off the bottom of the ninth and was sacrificed to second. Storen then forced the next two batters to fly out to seal the win.

Game Three

The offensive lineup of seven straight left-handed hitters flew out of the gate on Sunday, setting the pace for a 12-9 win.

Center fielder Sean Ratliff stole the show with a 4-for-5 performance including two solo home runs, a triple and five RBI; he was also named the winning pitcher after coming to the mound in relief. Texas’ success at getting lead-off baserunners was nullified by Stanford’s middle infielders, who cashed in a school-record six double plays on Sunday.

The two teams racked up 34 hits and scored in every inning except one. Most of the breaks went Stanford’s way as they raced to a 9-1 lead and held off a dynamic Longhorn comeback that ended with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth. The Cardinal’s compressed travel schedule necessitated an agreement that no inning would start after 4 p.m. Central Time, which meant that the eighth inning was the final frame.

The Cardinal batted around in the top of the first, chasing Texas starter Cole Green after just seven batters and putting up seven runs.

Stanford exploded again in the fifth. Ratliff led off with a solo home run. Designated hitter Austin Yount doubled and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch that bounced back into the infield brought Yount home for a bang-bang play at the plate; Rupp received the throw in time, but misplayed the ball as Yount was called safe. Texas fans booed and argued that Yount didn’t touch the plate, an inconclusive call from scoreboard replays.

Immediately following the bizarre play, Phelps struck again, blasting a high fly ball to deep center field. Jordan Danks followed the ball to the warning track, where he ran into the wall as the ball bounced off the park’s distinctive Astroturf. Phelps raced around the bases and beat the throw home for an inside-the-park home run. Danks was down for several moments before getting up, being cleared by the training staff and retaking his position in center field. Phelps’s fourth run of the series gave Stanford a 9-1 lead.

Texas whittled the lead down with seven runs in the next three innings, including back-to-back solo home runs in the seventh. With a 10-8 lead to protect in the eighth, Stanford did not lie down and put up two insurance runs. Defensive substitution Jeff Whitlow singled and moved around to third when Texas botched a pickoff attempt at first base. He scored on Castro’s sacrifice fly, giving the catcher six RBI for the series. Substitute first baseman Brent Milleville walked in the next at-bat, promptly stole second and was doubled home by Ratliff for a 12-8 lead.

In the decisive bottom of the eighth, Texas quickly loaded the bases and cut the lead to three by drawing a one-out walk. With the game on the line, Kawika Emsley-Pai grounded to Phelps for a fitting 4-6-3 double play that ended the game, giving freshman Alex Pracher his first save of the season.

Ratliff told GoStanford.com, “It was kind of relief to hold them off today . . . they were chipping away and the more they chip, the louder that stadium gets and the harder it is to keep your composure. But I think it’s a good indication as to where we are as a team right now, that we were able to hold them off late like that.”

Stanford had not won a series at Texas in the regular season since 2003, although it did win the 2006 NCAA Regional in Austin in dominating fashion.

Stanford is off for Dead Week and finals before beginning a three-game home-and-home series against Pacific on Friday, March 21.