April 4, 2009
Eugene, Ore. - The Stanford softball team (33-2, 4-1 Pac-10) routed Oregon today, exploding with its best offensive performance in more than a month and its most offense in a Pac-10 game in over two years. The Cardinal scored 11 runs on 14 hits, besting the Ducks (12-21, 1-5 Pac-10) 11-0 for its fourth straight Pac-10 win.
Cardinal pitcher Missy Penna (23-2), who opened the week as the nation's shutout leader, blanked her 14th opponent of the season to pull within one of her own school single-season record (15, 2008). She struck out 10 Duck batters and came just one hit short of her first career perfect game. With her 107th career victory, Penna became one of the 30 winningest pitchers in NCAA history.
Oregon starter Brittany Rumfelt (1-7) took the loss, after giving up four runs in 2.2 innings. Freshman Mikayla Endicott (3 ER, 1.1 IP) and senior Melissa Rice (1 ER, 3.0 IP) also entered the game for the Ducks.
Senior Maddy Coon led the Stanford offense, going 3-for-3 with two extra-base hits, three runs scored and two RBI.
With a 2-for-3 performance, junior Shannon Koplitz extended her team-long hitting streak to six games. The Cardinal third baseman is the only player to have hit in all five Pac-10 contests so far.
Junior Alissa Haber, junior Rosey Neill, sophomore Melisa Koutz and freshman Sarah Hassman also multi-hit games.
Coon and Neill both homered in the contest, continuing their climbs up the school's career chart. The long ball was the 33rd of Neill's career, putting her in the company of Jessica Mendoza '02, Catalina Morris '06 and Michelle Smith '08 as the four best home run hitters in school history. Coon's round-tripper was the 26th of her career, good for seventh place on the all-time chart.
Reserve catcher Ashley Kivett was the only base runner for the Ducks, as the sophomore singled up the middle in the third inning.
Stanford's run total was its most since scoring 14 against UC Riverside on Feb. 28, and its most in a Pac-10 game since April 1, 2007, when it put 15 on the Ducks at Howe Field. The team's 14 hits were a high since recording 16 against the Highlanders earlier this year, and the most in a Pac-10 game since last April, when the squad tallied 14 against Oregon State at home.
After its first three batters went down in order in the top of the first inning, the middle of Stanford's lineup began a scoring rally in the second. Coon led off the frame with her 45th career double, pounding a ball to the corner in left field that tied her for sixth place on the school's all-time chart. With one out, freshman Maya Burns chipped a single up the middle, putting a pair at the corners for Koutz. The sophomore delivered an RBI single to right field to open up the scoring, her first of two hits in the game. Burns advanced to third on the play after a Duck mistake in the outfield and scored on an infield single by Hassman.
In the third inning, Stanford again got some clutch hits from the middle of the lineup. Singles by Koplitz and Coon put two runners on with one out, but Rumfelt recorded a strikeout to get two down. Burns was hit by a pitch to load the bases however, and when the first pitch to Koutz got by the catcher, Koplitz raced in to score. Koutz later put a bloop single into center field, driving in Coon to make it 4-0.
In the fourth inning, Stanford began to display some power, ripping two home runs and cranking its advantage up to 7-0. After Koplitz put her second single of the day on the board, Coon crushed a line drive over the left field fence. On the next at bat, Neill took Endicott's 2-2 pitch over the right field wall, her team-leading seventh long ball of the year.
In the seventh inning, Stanford blew the game open even further, scoring four more runs on three more hits. A walk and a hit batter put two runners on to start the inning, and Neill popped a single to left center to score one run. A Duck error loaded the bases and, a second error, a dropped ball on a force at the plate, led to another Cardinal run. The Ducks turned a double play, but another run scored to make it 10-0. Hassman then singled up the middle to score Burns and round out the 11-0 score.
Stanford will wrap up its first Pac-10 road weekend tomorrow, looking to take the series from the Ducks for the second straight year. First pitch is scheduled for noon at Howe Field in Eugene.