Quinn Mathews' 156-pitch complete game stifles the Longhorns, sets up Game 3 to decide Stanford super regional

Stanford left-hander Quinn Mathews was dominant in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings of the Palo Alto super regional matchup between the Cardinal and the Texas Longhorns. His 156-pitch, 16-strikeout complete game in Stanford’s 8-3 win over the Longhorns kept Texas guessing at the plate all night and extended the series to a decisive Game 3 set for 7 p.m. on Monday night.

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Mathews, the Pac-12 pitcher of the year, flummoxed Texas hitters with a four-pitch mix featuring a low-90s fastball, an accurate changeup, a sweeping slider, and an effective curveball. He recorded a first-pitch strike on 22 of the 36 batters he faced in his marathon outing. Every Texas starter had at least one strikeout, with 12 of the 16 punchouts of the swinging variety. Mathews only issued one walk.

Texas was not completely shut out at the plate. The Longhorns recorded eight hits during the outing and plated three earned runs versus Mathews. Jared Thomas and Dylan Campbell drove in runs in the second, while Mitchell Daly stayed hot in June with a solo shot in the seventh.

But Texas’ opportunities to string hits together were constantly snuffed by the 6-foot-5 lefty with long sleeves and a pink and purple glove. Texas was 1-for-12 with runners on and 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Mathews ended the fifth with 82 pitches. He ended the seventh with 114 pitches. He completed the eighth at 135 pitches, and never had the look of a player who wanted to leave the game. All this came one week after Mathews pitched 11.0 innings and struck out 12 on 180 pitches across two outings in three days versus San Jose State and Texas A&M.

Throwing deep into games was not anything foreign to Mathews. He had one complete game, three outings of 8.0 innings or longer, and threw over 100 pitches in 14 of his 17 previous appearances. Double-digit strikeout games were regular occurrences, too. He recorded seven during the season, but none approaching his career-best 16 versus the Longhorns.

But the ninth inning was uncharted territory. He had not pitched more than 130 pitches all season. He put a runner on in the final frame via a double, and even saw his pitching coach walk toward the mound. Mathews’ mannerisms and body language made it clear he was not going to be pulled from the game. After the chat with his coach, he coaxed a groundout from Daly and the mostly cardinal-clad 2904 at Sunken Diamond gave Mathews a standing ovation after one of the best pitching performances in this NCAA Tournament.

Texas sent Lebarron Johnson, who himself had a 130-pitch complete game last weekend versus Miami in the Coral Gables regional, to the bump to start the game. Like in his outing versus the Hurricanes, Stanford put runners on the bases in the first and second innings. The Cardinal even scored a run.

Unlike in Miami, Johnson could not find a groove as the game went on. He took the loss in his 4.1 inning outing.

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Travis Sthele replaced Johnson with a runner on and one out in the fifth and Texas down 3-2. He worked a 2-1 count before Cardinal second baseman Drew Bowser crushed a ball to deep left field to give Stanford a 5-3 lead. Stanford added three more in the ninth to make it 8-3 via timely hitting and several Longhorn defensive miscues with Sthele, Andre Duplantier, and Chase Lummus on the mound.

Texas head coach David Pierce did not share who his Game 3 starter would be with reporters, but mentioned all but Johnson would be available in the winner-take-all matchup on Monday. Last weekend in Miami, the Longhorns started Tanner Witt in Game 3. He lasted just 2.0 innings and hurled 41 pitches, his second highest total of the year.

Whatever Witt (or whoever toes the rubber for Texas) provides will be crucial in defending a bullpen that has had its moments of success and failure throughout the year.

On Saturday, Stanford didn’t need to defend its bullpen. Mathews made sure of that thanks to a 103-strike outing that staved off elimination for the Cardinal and put an all-time performance in the books against the Longhorns.