STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford had base runners in five of seven innings but was unable to find the hit needed to get on the scoreboard Thursday, falling to No. 10/10 Washington in the series-opener, 7-0.
The Cardinal (24-15, 1-9 Pac-12) entered the game having played high-scoring series-openers in each of its Pac-12 matchups this season. However, Thursday night’s contest was more of a pitching showcase.
Stanford recorded four hits but Washington (23-10, 3-6 Pac-12) pitcher Kaitlin Inglesby (7-3) was resilient in pressure situations, never allowing a Stanford runner to reach third base. Inglesby went 7.0 innings, allowed four hits, four walks and struck out seven.
Madi Schreyer (17-8) was terrific in the circle for the Cardinal through the first four innings, limiting Washington to one run. Schreyer ran into trouble in the fifth inning when the Huskies rallied for five runs. She was relieved in the sixth inning and finished the game with seven strikeouts, allowing four earned runs on nine hits and nine walks in 5.0 innings.
Tylyn Wells (2-2) came in as relief for Schreyer in the sixth and was effective, allowing one hit and one walk, while striking out three in 2.0 innings. She entered the game in a bases-loaded situation with no outs and managed to get out of the inning, while allowing just one Huskie player to reach home safely.
Leah White, Erin Ashby, Cassandra Roulund and Wells recorded Stanford’s four hits. The Cardinal left two runners on base in the first, fifth and sixth innings, and stranded one runner in the second and seventh.
Roulund made the defensive play of the game in the top of the seventh inning when she robbed Washington’s Kylee Lahners of extra bases with a leaping grab against the center field fence.
The Huskies got on the board early with a run in the first. Washington threated in the fourth inning but two strikeouts by Schreyer and a great defensive play by Hanna Winter at shortstop halted the rally.
Washington broke through in the fifth inning, posting five runs on three hits to take a 6-0 lead. The Huskies added one more in the sixth when a walk with the bases loaded brought in a run.
Stanford continued to battle, getting two runners on in the fifth and sixth innings, and one on in the seventh, but was unable to find the timely hitting needed to mount a comeback.
Stanford will look to even the series tomorrow at 7 p.m.