BOSTON – No. 16 Stanford ended the regular season with a sweep, closing out a three-game series at Boston College with an 8-7 win in eight innings. The Card entered the seventh inning trailing by a run, but rallied to win in extras on an RBI single from Taryn Kern. The win pushes the Cardinal to 39-10 on the season and 16-8 in ACC play.
For the third-straight game, the Cardinal got started at the plate in the first inning. Kyra Chan doubled in a pair of runs to go ahead 2-0. The two runs were the ninth and 10th in the first inning this weekend, coming on 11 hits in the opening frames.
Boston College responded with a three-run blast in the first, and an unearned run in the third to go ahead 4-2.
Stanford put up four runs in the fifth to retake the lead. River Mahler hit a two-run homer to tie it at 4-4, then another double from Chan drove in a run to make it 5-4. Chan came around to score when Joie Economides singled in the next at-bat, making it a 6-4 lead.
Three runs from the Eagles in the bottom of the fifth sent the Card into the seventh inning trailing 7-6. With two outs and two strikes in the seventh, Economides came through with a single to score Jade Berry and even the score at 7-7.
In the eighth inning, Sydney Boulaphinh doubled and came around to score on an RBI single from Taryn Kern. Leading 8-7, Kylie Chung shut down the Eagles in the bottom of the frame to wrap the win. Chung finished the game with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out two and surrendering just two hits.
The Cardinal will remain in Boston, entering the upcoming ACC Tournament as the No. 5 seed. Wednesday’s first round matchup will see Stanford take on No. 12-seeded Pittsburgh. The single elimination game will start at 10:30 a.m. PT, and can be seen on ACC Network. Should the Card advance, next up would be a bout with No. 4-seeded Duke on Thursday.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Stanford finishes the regular season 39-10 overall, and 16-8 in ACC play.
- The Cardinal enters next week’s ACC Championship as the No. 5 seed.
- Juniors River Mahler extended her hitting streaks to nine games.
- Junior Kyra Chan’s three RBI on the day brought her season total to 57, tied for the third-most in a season in program history. She joins sophomore Jade Berry and Jessica Mendoza (in 1999) for the spot.
- Mahler hit her 10th home run of the season, posting double-figure homers in her third season at Stanford after not hitting one in her first two seasons.
- Mahler’s two RBI give her 51 on the season, joining Chan and Jade Berry in the 50 RBI club. Prior to this season, the last time a Cardinal hitter posted 50 RBI in a season was 2015.
- Berry, Chan and Mahler give Stanford three players with 50+ RBI in a season for the first time in program history.
- The Cardinal moves to 2-0 this season in extra-inning games.