April 24, 2009
Stanford, Calif. - Junior Shannon Koplitz ended a pitcher's duel in the ninth inning tonight, hitting a walk-off home run to lift Stanford to a 2-0 win over Oregon. Senior pitcher Missy Penna tied her own school record with her 15th shutout of the year and Stanford built its 2009 win total to 39.
The fourth-ranked Cardinal is now 39-6 on the year, with an 8-5 Pac-10 record. Oregon dropped its fifth consecutive conference game and is now 15-27 overall and 2-11 in Pac-10 play.
Penna (27-4) fanned 12 Ducks in the game, including six of the first eight to come to the plate. She opened the game by striking out the side in her 1,000th career inning and kept Oregon off the board through nine frames to earn her program-best 47th career shutout. The win was her 27th of the season and the 111th of her career, moving her into a tie for 23rd on the NCAA's all-time win list.
Freshman Samantha Skillingstad (11-11) struck out 10 and took the loss for Oregon.
The teams' respective aces gave up a combined eight hits, with the Ducks getting three off of Penna and the Cardinal squeezing five off of Skillingstad. Koplitz was the only player on either side to get more than one hit, going 2-for-4, reaching three times and belting the game-winning home run.
Stanford's other hits came from freshman Sarah Hassman, sophomore Melisa Koutz and junior Alissa Haber. Eight of the nine Cardinal batters reached at least once. Oregon got a bunt single from Shelley Deadmond and two other hits from Neena Bryant and Lindsey Chambers.
The Ducks put just six runners on in the nine innings and only got one past first base in the fourth. With two outs, Penna hit a batter and allowed her only two walks in succession, but struck out Kaitlin Vitek with bases loaded to end the inning.
Stanford, on the other hand, put runners on in seven of the nine innings but left 11 aboard before Koplitz' home run in the ninth. The Cardinal had at least two base runners six times, and left seven runners in scoring position.
After squandering a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the bottom of the eighth, the Cardinal finally came through to win in the bottom of the ninth. Haber slapped an infield single to the left side with one out, and Koplitz connected on Skillingstad's 1-1 pitch two batters later to end the game.
Koplitz, who has hit in a team-high nine of 13 Pac-10 games this year, hit another decisive two-run home run on March 29 to beat then-No. 2 Washington. She now has a career-best eight long balls on the year.
After her single in the bottom of the ninth, Haber stole second and became the fifth player in school history to steal 30 or more bases in her career. She leads the team with 15 steals this season.
Stanford is back at Smith Family Stadium tomorrow for a 1 p.m. game against Oregon State. The Cardinal and the Beavers conclude the series on Sunday at noon.