May 4, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 15 Stanford softball team shut out visiting Santa Clara, 7-0, Tuesday, at Smith Family Stadium. The Cardinal pushes its overall record to 33-14, while the Broncos drop to 9-32.
Junior Ashley Chinn tied her season-high with 10 strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work. The Belmont, Calif., native gave up six hits and one walk on the way to her eighth win of the season. Freshman Teagan Gerhart made her first appearance in the circle since Apr. 16. The rookie tallied two strikeouts and two walks without giving up a hit in 2.0 innings of work. Santa Clara's Kaitlyn Rauschnot took the loss, falling to 4-15 on the year.
Offensively, freshman Jenna Rich was 2-2 with two RBI, while fellow rookie Alix Van Zandt was 1-2 with two RBI. Senior Shannon Koplitz was 2-4 with an RBI and senior Rosey Neill turned in an RBI double for the Cardinal.
A costly error allowed Stanford to take an early 1-0 lead after one complete inning. Sophomore Ashley Hansen reached on a fielder's choice and then advanced to second on a throwing error by Santa Clara catcher Amanda Edmonson. On the next play, Koplitz hit an infield single to bring Hansen home.
The Cardinal loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning, but was unable to capitalize on the situation. The score remained 1-0 in favor of Stanford after two innings.
However, the Cardinal broke the game open in the third, scoring four runs to take a 5-0 lead. Koplitz led off with a single to right field and then advanced all the way to third as the ball bounced in front of Nicole Picard and rolled under her glove. The clean-up hitter, Rich, then blasted a two-run shot to left field to increase her team-leading RBI total to 45. Rich also leads the team with 12 home runs on the year.
Still in the bottom of the third, right fielder Maya Burns reached on a fielder's choice to put a runner on for the Cardinal. Batting seventh, designated player Van Zandt registered her first collegiate home run to increase the Stanford lead to 5-0.
Stanford added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Senior Alissa Haber reached on an error by Santa Clara center fielder Briana Knight, advancing to third on the play. She scored on a sacrifice fly by Hansen. Rich then singled through the left side to keep the inning alive for the Cardinal. She capped the scoring as Neill doubled off the center field wall, bringing Rich home.
Stanford will now travel to top-ranked Washington for a three-game conference series, May 7-9, at Husky Softball Stadium in Seattle.