Feb. 29, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford recorded 14 hits, received 12 walks, scored 13 runs and held four separate eight-run leads, but needed seven innings and two hours and 28 minutes to finish off St. John's, 13-5.
The win was the Cardinal's eighth by eight or more runs this year, and its 17th overall. The 13 runs were the team's second-highest tally of the season, while the 14 hits marked Stanford's sixth contest with 10 or more.
The Cardinal was led by three hits apiece by Anna Beardman, Alissa Haber and Rosey Neill. Sophomore Shannon Koplitz led the team with three RBI, and junior Maddy Coon reached on five of her six tries and posted a school record four walks. The Cardinal combined for four doubles and four homeruns in the game, for the highest extra base hit total of the year.
Freshman pitcher Ashley Chinn started and finished the game, throwing 5.2 innings and giving up four hits to earn her fifth career win. The Cardinal outhit the Red Storm, 14-9.
Stanford jumped on Red Storm pitcher Kat Lawrence immediately, scoring six runs in the top of the first inning. For the second straight game and the third time this year, Haber led off a game with a homerun. Her ball over the center field fence was the first of two long balls in the game for the Cardinal center fielder.
The next batter, senior Tricia Aggabao walked, and stole her fourth base of the year to move to second. Coon then singled to center field to bring Aggabao around for Stanford's second run. Senior Michelle Smith followed with a long ball of her own on the next at bat, belting her fifth homerun of the year deep to center field. Smith, who is second only to Olympic gold medalist Jessica Mendoza on Stanford's all-time chart, now has 36 career homeruns.
A Melisa Koutz walk and a double by Neill put two runners on for Erin Howe. Howe belted a ball to the fence, but it was caught in center field and went down as a sacrifice fly. Koutz scored on the play, and Neill scored on a double by Beardman on the next at bat, bringing the Stanford lead to 6-0.
The Red Storm held the Cardinal off for two innings, but with two outs in the fourth inning, Stanford struck again. Two consecutive batters earned four-pitch walks, and Koplitz stepped up and belted her second homerun of the year to center field, boosting the Cardinal lead to 9-0.
Fending off the run-rule decision, the Red Storm fought back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. First baseman Roxy Struble led off with a double, and catcher Brandy Reyes earned a walk to put a second runner on. Alyson Funn put down a sacrifice bunt, but Struble was safe on the throw to third to load the bases with no outs. Back-to-back sacrifice flies scored two runs, whittling the Cardinal lead to seven, 9-2.
A double by Aggabao, a walk and a hit batter quickly loaded the bases for the Cardinal in the fifth inning, and the team grabbed its eight-run lead back on a ground out by Koutz. The Red Storm held the Cardinal off from there, however, stopping the Cardinal with the bases loaded for the second consecutive inning.
St. John's refused to let the game end, however, fighting off the eight-run gap for the second time in the bottom of the fifth inning. Shauntaine Harris doubled to start the inning and scored on an ensuing double by Chelsea Durning. The run reduced the lead to 10-3 and forced a sixth inning.
Continuing the back-and-forth, Stanford took its eight-run lead back in the sixth, when Haber blasted her second homerun of the game. With one out, the Stanford sophomore slammed a ball over the right field fence for her first career multi-homerun game.
St. John's reacted again, however, fending off the eight-run lead for a third time. Funn led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by Lisa Geer and an error by the Cardinal outfield. Running for Geer, pinch runner Melissa Pilley scored on an RBI single by Bionka King.
Stanford answered with two runs in the top of the seventh, however, and, this time, the eight-run lead stuck. Neill put the first runner on with a single to left, and, with two outs, Beardman singled down the left line to put another one on. Haber put a single through the right side to load the bases, and Aggabao bashed her second double of the game to right center, pushing the score to 13-5.
Chinn and the Cardinal defense retired the Red Storm batters in order in the bottom of the seventh to close out the game. The Cardinal left 15 runners on base, marking its fourth consecutive game stranding eight or more runners.
Stanford will play its second game of the Worth Invitational tonight starting at approximately 6:30 p.m. The Cardinal will meet the Cardinals of Louisville for the first time in program history.