Feb. 20, 2009
Stanford, Calif. - Senior pitcher Missy Penna threw her 36th career shutout today, breaking the Stanford school record and leading the No. 5/8 Cardinal to a 2-0 victory over Notre Dame at the Stanford Nike Invitational.
The Cardinal improves to 10-1 with the win, with Penna moving up to 8-1. Jody Valdivia (0-3) took the loss for Notre Dame (2-4), despite not allowing an earned run. Both pitchers threw complete games and struck out five batters.
Penna knocked down the first of four school records that she is on pace to break this season. Her 36 career shutouts top the previous record of 35 set by Becky Blevins in 1999. Penna is 13 wins, 171 strikeouts and 99.2 innings away from adding three more school records to her name.
Stanford had seven hits to Notre Dame's three. Junior outfielder Alissa Haber led the Stanford charge with two of those seven hits, including a third-inning double.
After four scoreless innings, the Cardinal finally pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore Melisa Koutz put Stanford in good position to score with a leadoff double, but the Cardinal couldn't advance her. With two outs and Koutz still on second, freshman Sarah Hassman slapped a well-placed single to the left side of the infield. The Irish third baseman overthrew first base on the play and Koutz raced in to score.
Stanford battled for an insurance run in the sixth inning, using two more hits to push in the second run of the game. Back-to-back singles by Ashley Hansen and Shannon Koplitz started the inning, and a Notre Dame fielding error loaded the bases with one out. After a Cardinal strikeout, Brittany Minder came in to pinch hit and clocked a single up the middle that allowed Koplitz to score.
Notre Dame put runners on in five of the seven innings and left five runners on base. The best Irish chance came in the fourth inning, when two hit batters and a single loaded the bases with two out. Penna recorded her fourth strikeout of the game to squelch the threat, however.
The Stanford Nike Invitational continues tomorrow at 10 a.m. with a matchup between Sacramento State and Western Kentucky. The Cardinal will play two games tomorrow, meeting Western Kentucky at 12:15 p.m. and Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m.