OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -Miami had its chances to stay alive in the College World Series.

The top-seeded Hurricanes' high-powered offense just couldn't take advantage when it counted most, stranding a dozen runners and failing to hit a long ball in an 8-3 elimination game loss to Stanford on Wednesday night.

"They outplayed us tonight," Miami coach Jim Morris said. "They outplayed us, I guess, in every phase of the game: in pitching, defense and hitting."

The final two innings told the story. The Hurricanes had the bases loaded with no outs in the eighth, but scored only one. In the ninth, there were runners on second and third with no outs, and this time, no one scored.

"We left too many guys on base," Morris said. "We had some opportunities."

Miami opened with single, bunt, two successful steals on Stanford star catcher Jason Castro, and an RBI sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead after one inning.

But the Hurricanes' fortunes started to dim in sync with the Omaha skyline, and trying to match Stanford's long-ball game proved futile.

The Cardinal, with one loss in the tournament and playing Georgia on Friday, scored two runs on a homer and two on a double. Cord Phelps was 3-for-5 with a single, double and triple.

Miami had two extra-base hits - a home run by Yasmani Grandal in the seventh and Yonder Alonso's double in the ninth. But there were other opportunities: seven singles and five runners on base from walks and hit batters.

Miami (53-11) finished with the most victories for a Morris-coached club since 2001, but failed to join the 1999 Hurricanes as the only No. 1 national seeds to win the title.

Right fielder Dennis Raben, who had one of Miami's nine hits, said the 1-2 record in Omaha shouldn't take away from a season that included the Hurricanes' first Atlantic Coast Conference championship.

"We had everything that you need in a good ballclub: We had good pitching, a good bullpen, offense, defense," Raben said. "I know they were all up there among the top ranks in the country, but we weren't hot out here. The bats weren't swinging the way they were all year.

"I don't think you can specifically say we were pressing. There's not always something necessarily that you can put a finger on. We just didn't get it done. We weren't hitting. That's baseball."

In the eighth, Ryan Jackson, Adan Severino and Raben all singled to load the bases for Miami with no outs.

Jason Hagerty's sacrifice fly scored Jackson, but then reliever Erik Davis struck out Grandal and Blake Tekotte to end the inning and the threat.

In the ninth, Jemile Weeks walked and Alonso followed with a double after striking out his first three trip to the plate.

Stanford reliever Drew Storen came in and got Mark Sobolewski to fly out, struck out Jackson and grabbed a hot liner off Severino's bat to end the game.

"Give credit to their pitching. They made some pitches in big counts," Morris said. "We had some opportunities with one or two outs and guys on base and we didn't get them in."

Despite the struggles on offense, Morris held out hope that the Hurricanes could rally from a five-run deficit in the ninth.

"This club has been a very explosive club so you never give up on them," he said. "You always expect them to get it done. Even in the eighth and ninth innings we gave, I thought, a great effort as a team to come back."