March 7, 2004
Fullerton, Calif. - Senior pitcher Dana Sorensen pitched a complete game shutout as the 10th-ranked Stanford softball team defeated Cal State Northridge, 2-0, in the final game of the Worth Invitational. The Cardinal improve to 18-5 overall and went 5-0 for the tournament.
Stanford struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. Freshman Jackie Rinehart hit an infield single to get things started. With two outs, sophomore Lauren Lappin singled to center to bring home Rinehart and give the Cardinal the early 1-0 lead.
Leah Nelson led off the second inning with a walk and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Michelle Thiry. A double down the rightfield line by Rinehart scored Nelson.
Fullerton threatened in the bottom of the second as a lead off walk and a single put runners of first and second with no outs. A strikeout by pitcher Dana Sorensen and a double play by Lappin ended the threat two batters later.
Catalina Morris led off the third inning with a single up the middle. With two outs on the board, third baseman Meghan Sickler doubled down the leftfield line to bring home Morris. Sickler advanced to third on the throw then scored on a wild pitch by Brooke Weekly as Stanford staked a 4-0 lead over the Titans.
Lappin hit a single back up the middle to lead off the fifth inning and Jessica Allister walked to put runners on first and second with no outs for the Cardinal. Junior Elizabeth Bendig came off the bench to hit an RBI single to bring home Lappin to increase Stanford's lead to 5-0.
Three walks to Rinehart, Morris and Lappin, loaded the bases for Allister in the sixth inning. An error by the shortstop scored Rinehart and Morris. Back-to-back singles by Sickler and Bendig brought home Lappin and Allister to give Stanford a comfortable 9-0 advantage.
Rinehart led the team with a three-for-three day at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. Lappin went two-for-three with two runs scored and an RBI as well. Sickler and Bendig both collected two hits and two RBI each.
Sorensen improves to 10-3 overall after scattering three hits over six innings with five strikeouts.
The Cardinal are off during the upcoming week before hosting the Stanford Round Robin Tournament, March 20-21, at the Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium. Participants include host-Stanford, UC Santa Barbara and the University of Chicago-Illinois. The Cardinal will open the tourney against UCSB at 1 p.m. on Saturday.