TUCSON, Ariz. – No. 24/24 Stanford took an early lead Saturday night but was unable to overcome an eight-run third inning by No. 10/10 Arizona, falling to the Wildcats, 12-3.
The Cardinal (24-13, 1-7 Pac-12) jumped to an early lead when Kylie Sorenson hammered a two-run home run to left in the top of the first inning. Stanford held Arizona (31-8, 6-5 Pac-12) scoreless through the first two innings.
The Cardinal had an opportunity to extend its lead in the third inning, loading the bases with one out, but a strikeout and a ground out halted the rally. Being unable to find the hit needed to bring in runners around was a common theme for the Cardinal Saturday, which left at least one runner on base in all five innings.
Sorenson (2-3) got the start in the circle for Stanford and opened the game with two shutout innings. She ran into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the third when the Arizona bats heated up and the Wildcats rallied for eight runs on eight hits.
After a scoreless top of the fourth for the Cardinal, Arizona extended its lead to 12-2 in the bottom half of the inning with two two-run home runs.
Erin Ashby responded in the top of the fifth with her second home run of the series, a towering shot to deep center, cutting the Wildcats lead to 12-3. Bessie Noll added Stanford’s third hit of the game, but Stanford was unable to keep the rally going and dropped the second game of the series.
The Cardinal will look to take the final game of the three-game set Sunday at 12 p.m.