Texas steals Game 1 of Super Regional after Stanford's ninth-inning meltdown

The Cardinal were in the drivers seat the entire game

Stunned, shocked, or flabbergasted you can pick any word to describe how Stanford fans feel after the Cardinal lost their first game of the Super Regional to Texas.

The game was full of missed opportunities for Stanford, as in the first inning they had bases loaded and Malcolm Moore had already been able to walk in a run. Drew Bowser flied out to end the inning, keeping what looked like a very rattled Texas team in the game.

Moore came up big a couple innings later when he cranked a double, scoring Braden Montgomery who was used as designated hitter rather than playing right field in this one. The Longhorns' Eric Kennedy homered in the fifth off of Joey Dixon, who very well could have been pulled after the fourth inning to tie the game back up.

However, even with the two runs it was evident that Stanford was the better team that looked to be playing much more freely. Bowser came up big in his next at bat, as he launched a solo shot to give Stanford the lead, and the following inning Moore launched a two-run homer of his own to extend their lead to 5-2. Texas would go on to leave two runners on base in both the seventh and eighth innings, leaving them just one more half inning to make a comeback.

Something this team was not known for, as according to the Austin American-Statesman, Texas was 0-16 when they entered the ninth inning trailing. They also had only scored 11 runs in the ninth inning this entire season. Out of the bullpen came Stanford's hard throwing lefty closer Ryan Bruno.

While Bruno has struggled with command at times, no one was expecting him to not record a single out. In fact, Bruno walked the first batter he faced, hit the second, and walked the third. Esquer had seen enough and took the lefty out, putting in Matt Scott.

The first batter Scott faced hit a long fly ball that very well should have been out number one for Stanford, but a horribly timed miscommunication between right fielder Saborn Campbell and Eddie Park saw the two nearly collide. The ball rolled to the fence as Longhorns circled the bases to cut the lead to 5-4. Campbell and Park both appeared to think that they had called the other off, as Campbell appeared to throw his hands up after the ball hit off his glove.

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The Cardinal would eventually go on to record a couple outs, but the second was an RBI groundout that tied the game. With two outs and a chance to get out of the inning, Texas' Porter Brown worked the count to 3-1 with the bases loaded. Scott challenged with a fastball at the letters, which Brown turned on to right field scoring two runners on his single.

While it wasn't the ideal position to be in, there was still hope for the Cardinal as they had Montgomery, Pac-12 Player of the Year Alberto Rios, and Moore scheduled to hit. However, the three big bats all went down swinging, and Texas was able to steal game one despite Stanford being the better team for eight innings.

Stanford will look to keep their season and Omaha hopes alive on Sunday night when the two face off again, if the Cardinal win they force a game three. If they lose, their season is over and Texas advances to Omaha.