Welcome to The Daily’s liveblog of the No. 16 Stanford baseball team’s series opener against No. 23 Texas. We’ll be updating this page with instant coverage and analysis. Please refresh this page for the most recent updates. All times are Pacific.

 

7:34 PM: Stanford moves to 7-2, and the Longhorns fall to 6-3. These two teams will meet again at Sunken Diamond at 1 p.m. Saturday.

7:34 PM: Final line for Mark Appel: 9 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 14 strikeouts. Gametime: 2 hours.

7:33 PM: DOUBLE PLAY off the bat of Weiss. Cardinal wins 2-0.

7:31 PM: Appel ties his career high with 14 strikeouts, getting Collin Shaw swinging on a 1-2 pitch.

7:29 PM: Moynihan bloops one into left-center for Texas’ third hit of the night. Tying run is at the plate with no outs.

7:27 PM: Card’s outfield shuffled: Locher in left, Jackson in center, Zach Hoffpauir in right.

7:26 PM: Ringo walks with one out but Slater grounds into a double play. On to the top of the ninth, and Appel is still in. Needs one strikeout to tie his career-high of 14.

7:22 PM: Ty Marlow, Brooks’ brother, in to pitch.

7:18 PM: Sophomore Brooks Marlow pinch hits for Hall and grounds out to DIekroeger. Appel has thrown 100 pitches, struck out 13 and allowed two hits as we enter the bottom of the eighth inning.

7:17 PM: McElroy doubles into left-center. Takes a bit of heat off Danny Diekroeger, who botched that throw for Appel’s first hit allowed of the evening.

7:16 PM: Carter strikes out swinging and Appel now has 13 strikeouts. Up comes Codey McElroy, the only Texas hitter to not strike out so far, as Sam Fisher notes over the radio.

7:15 PM: Appel enters the eighth with 89 pitches. Felts pops up to start the top half.

7:12 PM: Diekroeger fouls out and French gets out of another jam.

7:11 PM: Locher grounds out to third and Jackson can’t go anywhere. Two outs for Diekroeger.

7:10 PM: Perfect sac bunt by Taylor, who almost beats it out at first. Runner at third with one out for Locher, at the top of the Stanford order.

7:09 PM: Jackson singles on a half-swing to short, as Hinojosa airmails it into the Stanford dugout. Card has a runner in scoring position with no outs.

7:06 PM: Hinojosa out swinging on a changeup. Twelve strikeouts for Appel, who needs two more for his career-high of 14.

7:04 PM: Three strikeouts in a row for Appel now after getting Mark Payton swinging.

7:03 PM: Appel gets his 10th strikeout, this one looking, on a nasty slider to Weiss.

7:02 PM: Alex Blandino comes into the game at third. Jackson moves to left and Jose’s night is over.

7:00 PM: Jose grounds to second for the easy fielder’s choice. On to the top of the seventh. The Appel watch is still on, but now it’s all about his nine strikeouts with the no-hit bid gone.

6:58 PM: Kauppila singles to right to bring up Jose. Could’ve been Stanford’s third run if not for the baserunning mistake by Ragira. (You run on a ball hit BEHIND you.) Clearly Ragira was looking to complete that home run trot. Still, two on, two out.

6:57 PM: A quick groundout by Ringo and then a fielder’s choice by Slater. Ragira shouldn’t have run on that ball, and now it’s a runner on first with two outs.

6:56 PM: That’s only Stanford’s fourth hit of the evening and its first since Ragira singled way back in the first inning.

6:55 PM: Ragira lines one off the top of the left-field fence. Bounced straight up but back, and it’s a leadoff double. Any wind at all and that one’s gone.

6:52 PM: Appel gets his ninth strikeout to end the threat (if you can call it that). 2-0 Card. Ragira leading off the bottom of the sixth.

6:49 PM: That was a tough grounder to Diekroeger, who threw off-target down the first-base line and pulled Ragira off the bag. Could’ve been called an error but can’t fault the official scorer for that one.

6:48 PM: Hall flies out to Jose in left-center, but Moynihan singles to break up the no-hitter.

6:46 PM: Codey McElroy bloops one into right and Slater charges to make the catch. One out in the sixth.

6:43 PM: Diekroeger lines out and we’re headed to the top of the sixth. One quick note, reported by David Lombardi: Mark Appel threw a no-hitter in high school (seven innings) against Livermore on May 6, 2009.

6:39 PM: Jackson and Taylor go down before Locher walks on a full count. That’s the first baserunner for either team since the first inning.

6:32 PM: Ragira catches a fly ball in foul territory to end Appel’s strikeout streak, and after a groundout the Longhorns go down 1-2-3 for the fourth straight frame.

6:31 PM: Hinojosa strikes out swinging and Appel has punched out six in a row.

6:27 PM: French has sent down 10 straight and gets out of the inning easily. The Longhorns righty has settled down quickly after that off start, striking out Kauppila in that frame. On to the top of the fifth.

6:23 PM: Jackson drops a foul ball for an error, but that just gives Appel the chance to strike out the side. Which he does. That makes seven for Appel through four innings.

6:21 PM: Another strikeout by Appel, four straight and six overall. Weiss embarrassed on a 1-2 swing.

6:20 PM: Appel works a 3-1 count for a strikeout as Stell goes down swinging. Three straight punchouts for the Cardinal righty.

6:15 PM: Stanford’s 2-4 hitters go down in order. No offense for the Card since that two-run first inning.

6:10 PM: Moynihan goes around on a check swing and the K Kount is at 4 for Appel. Texas still hitless as we enter the bottom of the third, 2-0 Stanford.

6:09 PM: Appel isn’t at his best, but he’s getting a lot of help from his fielders. Jackson makes a charging play at third before Appel strikes out Hall looking on a 2-2 changeup.

6:05 PM: Also make sure to listen to tonight’s action live on KZSU 90.1. Sam Fisher on the call.

6:03 PM: Jackson strikes out with the count full, Wayne Taylor bounces his first pitch to short and Locher fouls out. So much for momentum.

5:58 PM: What an inning for Stanford. After the Locher catch in center, Appel strikes out Felts before Kauppila makes a phenomenal sliding play at short. 1-2-3 for Appel, and Kauppila continues his incredible defense in his first year back from an ACL tear.

5:56 PM: Freshman sensation C.J. Hinojosa lines one to center and Locher makes the diving play. Great start for Stanford’s freshman, who lost his starting job early in the season but has earned it back.

5:55 PM: Not many scouts here to see Appel tonight. Last Friday there were upwards of 30. Maybe that’s for the better, as he is struggling with his slider a bit so far.

5:52 PM: Weiss gets some redemption by snagging a quick Jose grounder, and Texas is out of the inning. But Stanford sends seven to the plate in the bottom of the first and races out to a 2-0 lead.

5:51 PM: Kauppila grounds one to third but it’s booted by Weiss, who was supposed to play second this game. Dominic Jose comes up with two on and two out.

5:49 PM: Brian Ragira singles but Justin Ringo and Austin Slater go down in order.

5:44 PM: Smart for Dean Stotz to hold Danny at third base on that single (plus two-base error) with no outs. He could’ve scored, but the conservative move pays off anyways.

5:44 PM: A wild slider from French scores Diekroeger, 2-0 early.

5:43 PM: Diekroeger bounces one up the middle and it gets by the centerfielder, Weston Hall. Danny holds at third and Stanford has an early 1-0 lead.

5:42 PM: Locher bounces the first pitch he sees past third base for a standup double. Hugged the line there, batting from the right side.

5:38 PM: Payton flies out to the warning track in center, and Locher is there to end the inning. He will lead off to start the bottom of the first.

5:37 PM: A four-pitch walk sets up Mark Payton, who is hitting .536 this year. A rare walk for Appel at the wrong time.

5:36 PM: After a flyout, Appel sends down sophomore Taylor Stell on four pitches, the last a nasty slider.

5:34 PM: First pitch is a 94-mph fastball fouled off by Matt Moynihan.

5:23 PM: Starting lineups being announced over the PA. We’re about 10 minutes from first pitch.

5:05 PM: The scouting report on Longhorn starter Parker French, courtesy of The Daily’s own Sam Fisher (who is broadcasting tonight on KZSU):  “Three pitches, likes to keep it low in the zone. Low 90s.”

4:50 PM: Surprising to see Alex Blandino out of the lineup at third base. The sophomore is hitting just .174 but figures to be a major part of the Cardinal’s offense this season. His replacement, freshman Drew Jackson, has played in all eight games this season and is just a tad better at .214.

4:48 PM: Tonight’s starting lineups:

4:30 PM: For more on the view from Texas, here’s The Daily Texan’s series preview (if you’re willing to forgive the “Cardinals”).

4:27 PM: Texas wasn’t quite so fortunate this week, dropping a surprising midweek game to Sam Houston State 5-3. Storied coach Augie Garrido asked his team, “What are we going to learn from this?” after the loss, reports The Daily Texan’s Peter Sblendorio.

4:25 PM: For more on the No. 23 Longhorns and Stanford’s chances this weekend, check out my series preview here. Also read up on Stanford’s last win, 7-2 at St. Mary’s on Tuesday, here.

4:20 PM: First pitch at Sunken Diamond is just over an hour away. First-round pick Mark Appel (1-1) is looking for his second win of the season, and if last Friday was any indication, there will be no shortage of pro scouts at Sunken Diamond this evening.