STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford outhit Oregon State and held two leads during the game, but the Cardinal was unable to overcome an eight-run Beavers fifth inning and dropped the series-finale, 13-9.
The loss brought Stanford’s (30-25, 5-19 Pac-12) regular season to a close, marking the 18th consecutive year the Cardinal has finished with a winning record. Stanford will find out its postseason fate Sunday at 7 p.m. (PT) when the 2014 tournament field is announced on ESPNU.
The Cardinal has made each of the past 16 postseason tournaments.
Despite the loss, Stanford figures to be in a good position to earn a postseason berth after entering the weekend ranked 41st in the RPI rankings and coming off a strong showing at No. 2/2 UCLA where it became the only non-top five team in the country to defeat the Bruins.
Stanford also has key wins over No. 10/10 Washington, North Carolina State and Northwestern which are ranked 14th, 30th and 37th in the RPI rankings, respectively.
Stanford came out swinging in Saturday’s finale and compiled 15 hits on the day. Kylie Sorenson and Tylyn Wells each went 4-for-4, while Leah White and Hanna Winter tallied two hits apiece.
Madi Schreyer (22-14) made her 39th start in the circle on the season and allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out two.
The Cardinal got on the board early when Cassandra Roulund delivered a two-RBI double in the bottom of the first inning to score White and Kayla Bonstrom. Roulund’s hit put runners on second and third with one out but Stanford was unable to capitalize further with the next two Cardinal batters being retired.
Oregon State responded immediately with three runs in the top of the second to take a 3-2 lead. Stanford had an opportunity to eliminate the lead in the bottom half of the inning but left the bases loaded.
The Beavers continued to roll offensively in the third and fourth innings, adding a run in each stanza to extend its lead to 5-2.
Stanford continued to battle and delivered an impressive seven-run bottom of the fourth inning to retake the lead, 9-5. Wells got the rally going with a one-out single and was followed by a two-run home run to left-center field by White. It is White’s second home run on the year.
Seven of the next eight Cardinal batters reached base safely with either a hit or a walk to stretch Stanford’s lead to 9-5.
The advantage would be short-lived, however, as the Beavers put together their own lengthy rally and scored eight runs in the top of the fifth inning to retake the lead, 13-8.
Stanford had runners on second and third in the sixth and seventh innings but was unable to find the timely hitting needed to close the gap.
The Cardinal will find out its postseason fate Sunday at 7 p.m. (PT) on ESPNU.