May 17, 2013
LINCOLN, Neb. - A pair of home runs by Jessica Plaza and Kayla Bonstrom led the No. 14 Stanford softball team to a 4-2 win over No. 24 Tulsa, Friday, in the first game of the Lincoln Regional at Bowlin Stadium. The Cardinal improves to 38-19 overall, while the Golden Hurricane dropped to 42-15-1.
Senior pitcher Teagan Gerhart notched her 100th career victory in the circle, improving to 20-11 on the year. She joins Missy Penna and Dana Sorensen as the only Cardinal pitchers to accomplish that feat. She allowed just three hits and tallied five strikeouts in her 17th complete game of the year. Tulsa's Aimee Creger took the loss, dropping to 25-7.
Plaza and Bonstrom each hit a two-run home run to lead the Cardinal offensively. Sophomore designated player Erin Ashby was 2-for-2 with a run scored, while sophomore Leah White drew two walks and scored a run.
"I am very proud of our team coming back from an early deficit. I thought we competed well while competing against two good pitchers from Tulsa," said head coach John Rittman. "We gave ourselves some opportunities to score some runs, hitting a couple balls out of the park. Teagan (Gerhart) settled down after the first inning. I am really proud of her effort today."
The Golden Hurricane jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as first baseman Julie Kernen hit a two-run homer to left field.
The Cardinal tied it up in the bottom of the second as Plaza roped a two-run home run to left field, bringing home Ashby. It marked the third long ball of the season for the rookie.
Bonstrom gave Stanford a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run homer to centerfield, also scoring White. It was the ninth home run of the season for the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year.
"I try to keep my approach pretty simple, I just saw the ball and hit it," explained Bonstrom. "A lot people came up clutch today, we had another home run to help us even out the score again. One-through-nine we are pretty solid, so any one of us can do the job."
Stanford will face the winner of the Nebraska-Northern Iowa game, which followed the Cardinal's game against the Golden Hurricane, on Saturday, May 18 at 11 a.m. PT.