Stanford held a slim 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, but it couldn’t close out the top-seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons and fell in its opener at the College World Series.

Playing in a choppy afternoon affair in Omaha, the Cardinal gave up two runs in the eighth and went down in order in the top of the ninth to fall 3-2. Wake Forest had just six hits all day but made the most of things in the eighth.

Back-to-back walks to begin the frame put the tying and go-ahead runs on first and second right away. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. A single up the middle from Daniel Corona scored both. Stanford pitcher Ryan Bruno struck out the next two batters he faced, but the damage was done.

A ground out opened the ninth for Stanford. Eddie Park reached on a fielding error, but Tommy Troy grounded into a double play to give Wake the victory.

Joey Dixon drew the start on the mound for Stanford. He went four innings with one earned on three hits to go with four strikeouts.  Drew Dowd pitched two innings and Nick Dugan lasted one before being replaced with Bruno. Bruno was saddled with the loss.

Carter Graham led the Cardinal offensively with a 3-for-4 performance and an RBI.

Stanford moves into the elimination bracket with the loss. It’ll face the loser of Saturday evening’s LSU-Tennessee matchup in a win-or-go-home contest. First pitch for the game is set for 11 a.m. PT on Monday.