Danny DavisAustin American-Statesman
STANFORD, Calif. — Over the course of this season, the ninth inning hasn't been a place where Texas shined offensively.
Heading into their NCAA super regional, the Longhorns were 0-16 when they entered the ninth inning trailing. In fact, Texas had scored only 11 ninth-inning runs all season.
The comeback kids, the Longhorns were not.
They say, though, that there’s a first time for everything. And on Saturday, the Longhorns picked a good time to test that theory.
Texas scored five runs in the top of the ninth to stun Stanford in the opener of their best-of-three super regional at Sunken Diamond. With its 7-5 win, Texas moved within one victory of its 39th College World Series appearance. Stanford must now win two straight games to reach Omaha.
“I just thought it was a great ballgame,” UT coach David Pierce said. “Stanford's a very good team, and I'm just proud of our guys. We just continued to fight and gave ourselves an opportunity.”
Texas (42-20) and Stanford (42-18) fought to a 2-2 tie after five innings before the Cardinal used two home runs to distance themselves from the Longhorns. And after stranding two runners on base in both the seventh and eighth innings, UT entered the final frame in search of a miracle.
But Stanford all-conference reliever Ryan Bruno allowed the first three batters to reach base. After a pitching change, Mitchell Daly hit a fly ball that was dropped by Saborn Campbell in right field amid a near-collision with a teammate. That error allowed two runs to score, and Jared Thomas then tied the game on a groundout.
Texas loaded the bases again on two more walks, which set Porter Brown up for some late-game heroics. The TCU transfer lifted the Longhorns to their first lead of the day with a two-out, two-run single off Stanford freshman Matt Scott.
Brown’s game-winning swing on a 3-1 count came just one inning after Bruno struck him out to end the eighth. That strikeout stranded two runners and left UT trailing by three runs.
“Coach always says that it only takes one,” Brown said. “I had a hit earlier in the game … and then had two at-bats that didn’t go my way. I came up with that last at-bat thinking all the pressure was on the pitcher. Took a lot of good pitches, got on a good count and then got my fastball and put a good swing on it.”
Brown’s single was actually the only hit of the ninth inning for Texas, which sent 10 batters to the plate. To open the inning, Eric Kennedy drew a walk. Bruno then hit Jalin Flores with a pitch and loaded the bases by walking Jack O’Dowd. Kennedy, Flores and O’Dowd all reached base on full-count offerings.
“We knew Bruno's a heck of a pitcher, but we knew he's wild at times,” Kennedy said. “We knew we had to be disciplined with him and get him into the zone. Luckily we were able to lay off some tough pitches there and he gave us a few free passes.
“We also talked about putting pressure on their defense. We felt like we could expose them at times. The discipline and the putting pressure on them really played into our favor there into the ninth.”
Stanford coach David Esquer said that if UT's plan was to take pitches against Bruno, "they caught him on the right day." Bruno had saved nine games, but he also had posted a 4.68 ERA and 31 walks over 32⅔ innings.
"Ryan has done a great job for us the whole year, so we're willing to go down with our guys," said Esquer, whose team had been 35-1 when it entered a ninth inning with a lead. "They played a good ballgame and hung in there to the end and came up with the big hit when it counted."
After Texas rallied, Zane Morehouse entered the game and secured his seventh save. He struck out the side in the ninth, with each Stanford batter going down swinging.
The final strikeout retired freshman catcher Malcolm Moore, who had tortured Texas pitching throughout the game. Moore produced an RBI double and a two-run homer, and he drew a bases-loaded walk during an uncharacteristically wild first inning for Texas ace Lucas Gordon.
Gordon threw strikes on just 11 of his 26 pitches in the first and issued three walks. He entered the weekend having walked just 29 batters over 95⅓ innings.
Gordon eventually settled down and lasted 5⅔ innings. Sophom*ore Ace Whitehead was credited with the win after he held Stanford scoreless in the eighth.
Key play: After Texas fell behind 2-0, Kennedy hit a two-run homer in the fifth. His 17th homer of the year not only tied the game 5-5, but tied him for eighth place on UT's single-season chart.
Kennedy went 2-for-4 with a walk. The veteran outfielder also started for Texas in its 2021 and 2022 super regional series against South Florida and East Carolina.
Texas wins, but Campbell's streak ends
Notable number: 38. Texas outfielder Dylan Campbell went 0-for-3. That ended his 38-game hitting streak, which was both a school and a Big 12 record.
Campbell was intentionally walked in his final at-bat, in the ninth. He also was awarded first base in the eighth when Moore was called for catcher's interference on a two-strike foul ball. Campbell flied out to left field and struck out twice in his other three plate appearances.
Pierce said he congratulated Campbell on the hitting streak after the game.
"I said, '38, that's pretty awesome, huh?’” the coach recalled. "He goes, 'That's right; I didn't get a hit today.' I said, 'But you got a big win.' I think he was comfortable with that trade-off."
On deck: a chance to book the trip to Omaha
Up next for Texas: The Longhorns can book their trip to Omaha with a Game 2 win on Sunday (8 p.m., ESPN2). The announced starting pitchers for the game will be UT right-hander Lebarron Johnson Jr. (8-3, 2.62 ERA) and Stanford southpaw Quinn Matthews (9-4, 3.65).
