Stanford held the Texas Longhorns to just five hits through the first eight innings of Saturday’s Game 1 at the Stanford Super Regional.

The 8-seed Cardinal went into the final frame with a 5-2 lead. They left Sunken Diamond with a 7-5 loss after a complete meltdown in the ninth inning.

Stanford walked five Texas batters in the top of the ninth. Those free bases — combined with an error and a two-RBI, bases-loaded single — led to five Texas runs. And with a chance to take the lead back in the bottom of the ninth, Stanford struck out swinging in three consecutive at-bats to put the capper on things. Stanford must win out to get back to Omaha.

A trio of walks in the opening inning let Stanford plate an early run and take a 1-0 lead. A double from Malcolm Moore in the third drove home another run to double that lead.

Texas batters sat down in order throughout the second, third, and fourth innings as Joey Dixon found his spots. He struck out five Longhorns faced during that three-frame stretch.

A two-run homer from Texas’ Eric Kennedy early in the fifth knotted things up, but Stanford got out of the inning without any more damage. The Cardinal plated runs in the sixth and seventh innings to build the lead back while Texas’ bats once again went cold.

Stanford walked the leadoff batter to open the ninth inning, then struck Texas’ Jalin Flores with a pitch. That was followed up by another walk to load the bases. A fielding error scored the first run of the frame. Texas got another run on its next at-bat. Another pair of consecutive walks loaded the bases before a single to right field drove home the game-winning runs.

Braden Montgomery, Alberto Rios, and Moore each struck out swinging to close the game. Longhorn pitcher Zane Morehouse was a flamethrower on the mound to end things.

Morehouse recorded his seventh save of the year while Stanford’s Matt Scott (5-4) was saddled with the loss.

First pitch for Game 2 is set for 6 p.m. PT on Sunday.