STANFORD, Calif. – No. 15 Stanford responded in force after last night’s first loss of the season at Stanford Stadium, beating Clemson 11-1 in five innings this afternoon. The Cardinal hit three home runs in the offensive outburst, moving to 26-7 on the season and 9-5 in ACC play.
Clemson opened the scoring in the top of the first, but Alyssa Houston stranded the bases loaded to limit the damage to one run.
The Cardinal bats were able to answer right back and take the lead in the home half of the first. Jade Berry brought home a run on a Clemson error to tie the game, then with two outs Kyra Chan took the lead.
The junior hit her fifth home run of the season to plate three and make it a 4-1 Stanford lead.
The homers kept coming in the second, with Taryn Kern and Emily Jones going back-to-back to make it a 7-1 game. The three home runs brought the Card’s season total to 54, the third-most in a season in program history.
Stanford pounced for four more in the fourth inning, thanks to hits from Kern, Emily Jones, River Mahler and Joie Economides. Chan picked up her fourth RBI of the day with an RBI groundout, and Berry drove in her second of the day on a sacrifice fly.
Houston posted a perfect top of the fifth to cap a strong start in the circle and wrap up the win. The sophomore finished the day with just one run allowed on one hit, striking out nine.
The afternoon in the circle for Houston started with three walks issued in the first inning, then free passes to the first two batters of the second inning. After that, Houston rallied to allow just one Tiger to reach base on an error – retiring 12 of 13 to end the game. Houston’s nine punchouts set a new career best as well.
The Cardinal is back against Clemson tomorrow, starting at 2:00 p.m. PT. Tickets are available at Tickets.GoStanford.com, and the game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Stanford moves to 26-7 (9-5) on the season.
- Juniors Kyra Chan and River Mahler both extended their hitting streaks to 11 games.
- Chan’s home run in the first inning was her fifth of the season, and sixth of her career.
- Junior Taryn Kern’s homer in the second inning was her 11th of the season, and 41st of her career.
- Kern’s 11 home runs on the season lead the team and are just one shy of the ninth-most in a season in program history.
- The three home runs bring the Cardinal’s season total to 54, already the third-most in a season in program history.
- Sophomore Alyssa Houston struck out nine for a new single-game career best.