April 18, 2009
Tempe, Ariz. - Last time senior pitcher Missy Penna faced Arizona State at Farrington Stadium, she shattered the school's single-game and single-season strikeout records. In her visit this time around, she put herself atop the final strikeout list in the Stanford books, posting her 1,155th career K in the second inning to break Dana Sorensen's school record.
Penna memorable night was made complete with Stanford's seventh Pac-10 win, as the Cardinal took down the defending national champion in an extra-inning hit fest. Rookie Jenna Becerra came up with the winning hit in the eighth inning, carrying Stanford (37-5, 7-4 Pac-10) to victory over the No. 5/8 Sun Devils (35-9, 5-4 Pac-10), 7-6.
Becerra picked a perfect time to record the first two Pac-10 hits of her career, coming up with a two-run home run in the second inning along with her decisive single in the eighth. The Camarillo, Calif. native finished the night 2-for-3 with three RBI to pace the Cardinal offense. Fellow freshmen Maya Burns and Ashley Hansen each had two hits as well, and Maddy Coon and Shannon Koplitz hit their fourth and seventh home runs of the year, respectively.
Arizona State was led by Kaitlin Cochran, who was 3-for-4 with a home run. Sophomore Krista Donnenwirth was 2-for-4 and also homered for the Sun Devils.
Penna tied the program strikeout record by fanning Cochran, the two-time defending Pac-10 Player of the Year, in the first inning, and broke it when she caught Renee Welty looking in the second. Penna now holds the school's career records for wins, strikeouts, shutouts and innings pitched.
In addition, Penna reached a number of other notable landmarks in the win. Among her 12 K's were ones that put her in sole possession of seventh place in the Pac-10 record books and among the NCAA's 25 all-time strikeout leaders. Her win, the 110th of her career, tied her with former UCLA pitcher Anjelica Selden as the 23rd winningest pitcher in NCAA history and the seventh winningest in Pac-10 history.
The senior ace improved to 26-4 on the year and allowed 10 hits and six earned runs in eight innings of work. Megan Elliott (9-5) took the loss for Arizona State after allowing nine hits and giving up seven earned runs.
Stanford took advantage of its first scoring opportunity in the opening inning. Haber walked to lead off the game and scored when Coon homered three batters later.
In the second inning, Becerra's two-run shot made it 4-0. Burns singled to center field to put a runner on for her classmate and Becerra drove her fourth career home run over the left center field wall to boost the Stanford lead.
The Sun Devils got one back in their half of the second, when Donnenwirth hit a solo home run to center field.
Hansen was hit by a pitch to lead off the third inning and Koplitz quickly hit Stanford's third home run of the night to push the Cardinal advantage to 6-1.
ASU managed to get one run back in the fifth inning. Jessica Mapes was walked with one out and advanced to second when another walk was issued to Cochran. Freshman Katelyn Boyd came through with a double to center field to drive in Mapes and make it 6-2.
With a 6-2 lead, Penna struck out Mapes to start the seventh inning and pulled the Cardinal within two outs of the win. The Sun Devils refused to let the game end however, as Lesley Rogers and Cochran homered in back-to-back at bats to trim the lead to 6-4. Boyd drew a walk to keep the rally going and, after a wild pitch, came around on Kaylyn Castillo's double. Donnenwirth singled to put runners at the corners and a single by Katie Crabb drove in pinch runner Caylyn Carlson to tie the game. With two runners on, Penna fanned back-to-back Sun Devils to end the damaging seventh inning.
In the eighth, Melisa Koutz hit a one-out double to start a Stanford rally. Pinch runner Autumn Albers was thrown out at the plate on a Burns hit however, putting Becerra up with two down. The rookie drove a ball to left center, and Burns came around to score the go-ahead run from second.
Penna held tight in the bottom of the eighth, allowing only Cochran on base. With the senior on third, she fanned Boyd and gave the Cardinal its seventh Pac-10 win.
Stanford is back at Farrington tomorrow at noon, concluding its trip to the desert with a second contest against the Sun Devils.