The Texas Longhorns beat the Princeton Tigers 5-3 in the opening round of the NCAA Baseball Regionals on Friday night.
Texas, who was easily a heavy favorite coming into the game, only mustered five hits against Princeton's pitching. The Longhorns took an early 2-0 lead thanks to smallball, as leadoff man Tant Shepherd walked to start it off for Texas. After a sac bunt and a walk to Brandon Loy, Shepherd and Loy both executed a double steal successfully, enabling Shepherd to score on an RBI groundout by Erich Weiss. Loy would then score on a wild pitch by Princeton starter Zak Hermans.
Loy and Shepherd paced the offense for the Longhorns. Shepherd went 1-2 with two walks, two runs scored and two RBIs - both of which came on a two-run home run in the fifth inning. Loy went 1-1 with a run scored and three walks.
Sam Stafford pitched seven strong innings for the Longhorns, allowing just one run on two hits and three walks while striking out six en route to the win.
The Longhorns will now take on Kent State on Saturday, once again at 6:30 p.m. CDT. Princeton will take on Texas State, who fell to Kent State on Friday, at 1 p.m. CDT.