May 17, 2009
Stanford, Calif. - Behind another outstanding effort by senior pitcher Missy Penna, the Stanford softball team completed a sweep of its own NCAA Regional today. The Cardinal (47-9) bested No. 22-ranked and Big West Champion Cal Poly, 4-0, in the regional final to claim the school's sixth regional title and secure a spot in the program's fourth NCAA Super Regional in five seasons.
Eighth-seeded Stanford advances to face conference rival Arizona, the No. 9 overall seed, this week in one of eight Super Regionals. The series begins with a 6:30 p.m. game on Thursday at Smith Family Stadium. A second game will be played at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, with a third game set for Friday at 8 p.m. if necessary. Winners of the eight Super Regionals move on to the Women's College World Series, which begins May 28 in Oklahoma City.
Cal Poly finishes its season with a 41-12 overall record.
Penna (34-6) posted her 50th career shutout, becoming the first pitcher in school history to toss 50 or more. She struck out five in the game and allowed just three hits in seven innings of work. With her 118th career victory, she is now tied as the 16th-winningest pitcher in NCAA history and matches former Arizona State pitcher Katie Burkhart as the sixth-winningest in Pac-10 history. Her 34 wins this season are second only to the school-record 37 she posted as a junior last year.
Sophomore Anna Cahn (28-7) took the loss for Cal Poly, going six innings and allowing all four earned runs on seven Stanford hits.
The Cardinal outpaced the Mustangs offensively, with seven hits to the three by Cal Poly. Freshman Sarah Hassman led Stanford with two hits, including a critical RBI triple in the sixth inning, while sophomore Melisa Koutz was also 2-for-3 with an RBI.
Junior outfielder Alissa Haber broke the school's single-season double record in the game, notching her 24th of the year in the sixth inning to break the former record set by Sarah Beeson in 2001. Freshman teammate Ashley Hansen is close behind her, having matched Beeson's mark yesterday (23).
Cal Poly got two of its three hits from senior shortstop Melissa Pura. The Mustangs stranded all six base runners they got in the game, while the Cardinal stranded 10 of its 14.
The Cardinal, the designated visitor in the game, took advantage of a slow start by Cahn to get the first run across in the top of the first inning. After Hansen singled, Cahn walked two and hit Shannon Koplitz with a pitch. Rosey Neill drew a full-count walk for the RBI.
Despite putting runners on in all but one inning, Stanford held the 1-0 lead for most of the game. Hassman finally ignited the Cardinal in the sixth however, and the team never looked back. Jenna Becerra was hit by a two-strike pitch with one out, and Hassman came through with her first career triple on the next at bat. The rookie slapper sliced a ball to the right center field gap and put Stanford up 2-0. Haber followed right behind her with her record-breaking double to increase the Stanford lead to 3-0.
In the seventh, back-to-back doubles by Maddy Coon and Koutz created another run and gave Penna a four-run cushion for the seventh. Coon's double, the 47th of her career, made her one of the school's top-five double hitters of all-time (others are Haber, Jessica Allister, Jessica Mendoza and Beeson).
Penna struck out two of the four batters she faced in the seventh to clinch the third regional title of her career.
Tickets to this week's Thursday-Friday Super Regional can be purchased by calling 1-800-STANFORD.