CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 15/14 Stanford split a pair of games for the second consecutive day Saturday, defeating Georgia State and falling to Central Connecticut State.
The Cardinal (16-5) began the day with a 7-1 win over Georgia State (10-6) but was unable to find the timely hit it needed against Central Connecticut State (2-2), dropping a 5-0 decision.
It was a similar result to Friday’s competition with the Cardinal winning the first game of a two-game set in convincing fashion but struggling to get going offensively in the back half of the series. The Cardinal is 4-4 this season in the second game of back-to-backs.
Stanford had its opportunities in the second game against Central Connecticut state with at least one runner reaching base in each inning, but Stanford was unable to get the hit needed to break through and stranded 10 runners.
Madi Schreyer (13-3) saw time in the circle in both games and started the game against Georgia State. She finished the day 1-0, allowing three hits, two walks, no earned runs, and striking out 13 in 9.2 innings pitched.
Kylie Sorenson paced the Cardinal offensively over the two games, finishing 4-for-5 with a triple, a run and three walks. Tylyn Wells, Cassandra Roulund and Jessica Plaza each hit over .500 on the day.
After two scoreless innings to start the game against Georgia State, Stanford posted six runs in the third inning to take a 6-0 lead. Kayla Bonstrom got the Cardinal rolling with a bases-clearing stand-up triple to deep right center field. Bessie Noll followed with an RBI-double to bring Bonstrom home and give the Cardinal a 4-0 advantage.
Erin Ashby delivered an RBI-single through the right side of the infield to bring Noll around from second. Plaza completed the scoring in the third inning with an RBI-single to put Stanford up 6-0.
Georgia State brought home a run in the top of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly. Stanford responded in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly of its own when Noll drove one to right field, scoring Leah White from third and giving Stanford a 7-1 lead.
Schreyer punctuated the win by striking out the side in the seventh inning to secure the victory.
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Stanford started the second game strong, loading the bases in the bottom of the first inning against Central Connecticut State, but was unable to bring a runner home. The Cardinal put two on in the second but again failed to bring them around.
The Cardinal had at least one batter reach base in each of the final five innings but was unable to find the hit needed to break through and get on the board.
Bonstrom (1-2) started in the circle for Stanford and went 1.1 innings before Sorenson came in as relief. Bonstrom allowed two earned runs on three hits and a walk, while Sorenson permitted two runs on five hits and two walks in 3.0 innings of work.
Central Connecticut State got on the board in the second inning when Alexis Debrosse hit a two-run home run over the left field fence. The Blue Devils added a third run when a Stanford error kept the inning alive and allowed the runner on third to reach home.
Central Connecticut stretched its lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning with another two-run homer, this time from Kat Malcom.
The Cardinal continued to battle and put balls in play but could not find the gaps, and Central Connecticut State made the plays it needed to keep Stanford off the board.
The Cardinal will conclude its weekend of play Sunday at 6 a.m. PT against Kennesaw State.