Feb. 20, 2004
Cathedral City, Calif. - The eighth-ranked Stanford softball team fell to Northwestern, 4-2, in its opening game of the Palm Springs Classic in Cathedral City, California this afternoon. The Cardinal drop to 8-2 overall while the Wildcats improve to 5-2.
Stanford threatened in the top of the sixth when Jackie Rinehart and Katherine Hoffman notched back-to-back infield hits with two outs. Sophomore Catalina Morris came to the plate and worked a full count before lacing a double to right centerfield to score Rinehart and Hoffman to take the lead.
But Northwestern answered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Senior Dana Sorensen (4-2) took the loss for the Cardinal, going six innings while allowing four runs on five hits with 10 strikeouts. Wildcat Eileen Canney (2-1) picked up the win for Northwestern, pitching 6.2 innings with seven strikeouts. Courtnay Foster notched her first save, striking out the final batter.
Jackie Rinehart and Katherine Hoffman each tallied a hit and a run for the Cardinal while Catalina Morris picked up two RBI.
Northwestern was led by Eryn Manahan who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored.
Stanford will face Notre Dame tomorrow at 1 p.m. and Coastal Carolina at 3:30 p.m. in continued action.