March 2, 2001
ST. GEORGE, Utah - The No. 6 Stanford softball team jumped out to an early led and held on for a 6-4 win over Oklahoma State on Friday afternoon in the first game of the Red Desert Classic, hosted by University of Utah at The Canyons. The Cardinal improves to 17-1-1 while the Cowgirls fall to 6-7 on the year.
Errors plagued the Cowgirls early in the game as Stanford scored its first two runs on Oklahoma State throwing errors. Then the Cardinal put up three runs in the fourth inning. Jessica Allister led off with a single, Maureen LeCocq reached on an error and Ramona Shelburne bunted for a base hit. Robin Walker's fly to right was dropped, scoring Allister. The rally continued with Sarah Beeson's two-out bloop hit to left, scoring two more runs for a 5-0 Cardinal lead.
Dana Sorensen had 12 strikeouts, which moved her into second place on the all-time strikeout list. She now has 274 in her two years on The Farm. Sorensen, who improved to 8-1, has at least 10 strikeouts in eight of her nine appearances this year.
Oklahoma State got back into the game in the sixth. Stanford's Jaime Forman-Lau started the inning and gave up four runs on two hits in 2/3 of an inning. Back-to-back doubles by the Cowgirls, including a three-run double by pitcher Lauren Bay, closed the gap to 6-4. But Sorensen returned to get the final out of the inning and finished the game as well. OSU's Bay had 12 strikeouts as her record fell to 2-3.
Allister had three singles and one run scored while Walker scored three times and had one RBI. Beeson and Mendoza each had one hit.
The Cardinal continues play in the Red Desert Classic at 4:00 p.m. (MST) against UC Santa Barbara.
Score by Innings1234567R H E #6 Stanford10130 106 7 0 Oklahoma State 00000404 4 6WP - Dana Sorensen (8-1). LP - Lauren Bay (2-3). Save - None. 2B - Lauren Bay (OSU), Jade Lindly (OSU). 3B - None. HR - None. E - Jenny Kipp (OSU) 2, Ryan Realmuto (OSU) 2, Lezli Leathers (OSU), Jade Lindly (OSU). LOB - Stanford 7, Oklahoma State 4. Records: Stanford 17-1-1, Oklahoma State 6-7.