May 20, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. - For the first time in the history of the program, the Stanford softball team is going to Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series after defeating Pacific 9-1 in five innings in the championship game of the NCAA Softball Regional at Stanford's Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium. Pacific finishes the season at 50-13. The Cardinal will take its 52-14-1 overall record into Thursday's first round World Series game against LSU.
After the Tigers defeated the Cardinal 2-0 in the first game of Championship Sunday, Stanford came out and took the lead in the top of the first. Robin Walker hit the first pitch of the game for a single through the left side. Sarah Beeson was hit by a pitch to set up Kira Ching's two-run double. Ching found the gap in right center, scoring Walker and Beeson for a 2-0 lead.
In the second, Stanford added to its lead on Jenni Shideler's solo home run. Shideler sent the 0-1 pitch to deep center for her third homer of the year and a 3-0 lead.
The Cardinal put the game out of reach in the fourth, when it took an 8-1 lead, thanks to Jessica Mendoza's grand slam. Jessica Allister started the rally with a single to left field. Jessica Draemel went in to pinch run before Cassi Brangham had a base hit to right. Shideler was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Michelle Thiry. Thiry sent the first pitch she saw into right field for the first run. Ramona Shelburne reached on a fielder's choice to load the bases again. This time, Mendoza cleared the bases with her 14th home run of the year.
In the fourth, the Cardinal scored one more run. Allister started things off again with a single through the right side. Brangham walked and Shideler's was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Thiry. Again, Thiry came through with a clutch RBI single, scoring Brangham for a 9-1 Stanford lead.
Pacific scored its only run of the game on an Erica Reynold's solo homer in the third.
Both teams used the same pitcher in the two games. The Tigers threw Cindy Ball while the Cardinal stuck with Dana Sorensen. Sorensen, who threw over 100 pitches in the first game, came out and held the Tigers to three hits. She improved to 25-4 with the win.
Ball gave up eight runs on eight hits. Jennifer Dacre finished the game for the Tigers and gave up one run on two hits. Ball took the loss to fall to 33-9.
Mendoza, Allister and Thiry were all 2-for-3 in the game. Mendoza drove in four while Ching and Thiry each had two RBI.
The Cardinal placed four players on the All-Tournament team as Mendoza took the Most Outstanding Player award. Ching, Sorensen and Beeson joined Mendoza on the all-tourney squad. Mendoza hit .471 (8-for-17) in the five games of the Regional with three doubles, a triple, a homer and nine RBI.
Stanford 9, Pacific 1 (5) Score by Innings12345R H E Stanford 210519 10 9 Pacific 001001 3 0 WP - Dana Sorensen (25-4) to Jessica Allister. LP - Cindy Ball (33-9) to Kelly Lowry. Save - None. 2B - Kira Ching (STAN). 3B - None. HR - Erica Reynolds (UOP), Jenni Shideler (STAN), Jessica Mendoza (STAN). E - None. LOB - Stanford 4, Pacific 2. Records: Stanford 52-14-1, Pacific 50-13.
All-Tournament Team Heather Brousseau (Hostra) LaMeka Anderson (Hofstra) Hope Robertshaw (Central Michigan) Cindy Roethemeyer (Nebraska) Peaches James (Nebraska) Barbara Moody (Pacific) Adrienne Ratajczak (Pacific) Cindy Ball (Pacific) Kira Ching (Stanford) Dana Sorensen (Stanford) Sarah Beeson (Stanford) Jessica Mendoza (Stanford) Most Outstanding Player Jessica Mendoza (Stanford)