STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford was unable to overcome a slow offensive start Saturday night, falling to No. 10/10 Washington 11-2 in five innings.
It was a festive atmosphere at Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium with a large crowd enjoying Bacon Night treats and ESPN2 on hand to broadcast the game. However, the Cardinal (25-16, 2-10 Pac-12) struggled to get going offensively for the second consecutive game, while the Huskies (24-11, 4-7 Pac-12) struck early and applied pressure through their final at-bat.
Stanford was held hitless through the first 3.1 innings by Washington pitcher Kaitlin Inglesby (8-3) and could not sustain a fifth-inning rally long enough to avoid the run-rule result.
Kylie Sorenson led Stanford offensively, drawing a walk in the first inning and breaking up Inglesby’s no-hitter in the fourth with a single up the middle. Hanna Winter, Cassandra Roulund and Kayla Bonstrom each recorded a hit in the fifth inning.
Roulund and Winter played well for the duration of the Washington series, making multiple highlight defensive plays and leading the Cardinal in batting. Roulund hit a team-best .429 (3-for-7) with two RBI, and a walk. Winter finished the weekend going 2-for-6 (.333) with one double, one RBI and three walks.
Madi Schreyer (17-9) got the start in the circle and finished the game allowing six earned runs on six hits, four walks and one strikeout in 4.2 innings. She holds a 3.10 ERA in 176.0 innings pitched on the season.
After a scoreless first inning, Washington got on the board in the second when Kylee Lahners hit a solo home run to right field. It was her first of two home runs on the night.
The Huskies did a majority of their damage in the third inning when they rallied for eight hits to score seven runs and take an 8-0 lead. Washington added three runs in the top of the fifth to extend its advantage to 11-0.
Stanford continued to battle and put together a good rally in the bottom of the fifth to score twice. With one out, Winter doubled down the left field line. Roulund followed with a single up the middle, moving Winter to third.
Tylyn Wells hit a grounder to Washington’s shortstop who was unable to handle the ball while Winter crossed the plate from third.
After Leah White flied out to left, Bonstrom singled up the middle scoring Roulund and advancing Wells to third. The Huskies center fielder tried throwing out Wells at third but was late and off-line. The ball briefly skipped away from Washington’s third baseman and Wells broke for home. The Huskies third baseman grabbed the ball and threw home in time to catch Wells at the plate for the final out of the game.
The Cardinal continues Pac-12 play next weekend at Utah, beginning Thursday at 2 p.m. (PT). The games on Thursday and Friday will be televised on the Pac-12 Network, and Saturday’s game will be streamed online.