Quinn Mathews' 16 K's and 156 pitches power Stanford past Texas, forces game three

Stanford's ace led them to victory and kept their season alive

Stanford found themselves one loss away from their season being over after a horrific ninth-inning collapse on Saturday against Texas. 

The fate of their season on the line Stanford's skipper David Esquer knew exactly who he wanted to pitch, Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Quinn Mathews. The southpaw has been as clutch as possible for the Cardinal for the past few seasons, and the Cardinal needed another strong performance from him in game two of the Super Regional.

Not only did he have a strong performance, but he had a career day. Mathews threw an astounding career-high 156 pitches and registered 16 strikeouts in a complete game. The Longhorns took an early 2-1 lead, but after scoring one run in the fourth the Cardinal got a huge boost from a Malcolm Moore RBI double, which was followed up by a Drew Bowser two-run home run to make it 5-2. 

The Longhorns would only be able to plate one more run the rest of the game, as Mathews gave up just three hits while recording eight strikeouts across the final five frames. Stanford's three runs in the ninth inning appeared to really take all of the wind out of Texas' sails, and now the Cardinal appear to be confident again. 

The Quinn Mathews game https://t.co/QuvbgGjnTR

— Inside The Stanford Cardinal (@InsideStanford) June 12, 2023

The two programs will face off on Monday night in a game that sends the winner to Omaha, while the loser's season will be done.