Feb. 24, 2013
FSU Box Score | Syracuse Box Score
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - The No. 17 Stanford softball team defeated No. 23 Florida State (3-1) and Syracuse (2-1), Sunday, on the final day of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, Calif. The Cardinal now stands at 14-3 overall, while the Seminoles fell to 9-6 and the Orange dropped to 4-4.
Freshman Kelsey Stevens picked up the win against Florida State, improving to 8-1 in the circle. She struck out six batters and allowed just one run (unearned) on three hits. Senior pitcher Teagan Gerhart entered the game in the sixth inning and notched her first save of the year. Gerhart (6-2) then earned the win over Syracuse, recording a season-best 11 strikeouts.
In game one, Florida State took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Lead-off hitter Victoria East reached on an error by Cardinal short stop Jenna Rich. After stealing second, East scored on an RBI single by centerfielder Courtney Senas.
Stanford answered in the top of the second, capitalizing on three Seminole errors. Free shman first baseman Kayla Bonstrom led off with an infield single. Junior Corey Hanewich, who came in to run for Bonstrom, stole second. A sacrifice bunt by sophomore Erin Ashby moved her to third, and she scored on a single by senior Tegan Schmidt.
Still in the second, sophomore Hanna Winter, who reached on an error, stole second and a throwing error by FSU catcher Celeste Gomez allowed Schmidt to score from third.
Neither team was able to generate much more offense until the seventh inning. Sophomore Leah White hit an infield single and then stole second. She moved to third on a single by senior Sarah Hassman, and then a fielding error on FSU's Morgan Bullock scored White.
Against Syracuse, junior Danielle Miller hit an RBI single to score pinch runner Tylyn Wells in the bottom of the second inning to take the lead.
The Orange tied it up in the top of the fifth on a solo home run by catcher Ashley Dimon. However, Rich answered with a solo shot of her own in the bottom of the inning to score the winning run. It marked the second home run of the season for the senior.
Stanford remains on the road next weekend, traveling to Fullerton, Calif., for the Easton Invitational. The Cardinal will face Iowa, Wisconsin, Cal State Fullerton, Northwestern and Indiana over the three-day span (March 1-3).