STOCKTON, Calif. – Kayla Bonstrom hit a grand slam and accounted for six RBIs to lead Stanford to a 9-7 victory at Pacific on Tuesday evening.
Bonstrom had a huge game at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a grand slam, two doubles, six RBIs and two walks. It was her 10th home run on the season – a single-season career high. Bonstrom is hitting .476 with 42 RBIs and 13 doubles on the season.
Kylie Sorenson (4-3) was strong in the circle, holding Pacific (10-26, 0-0 WCC) to seven runs – three earned – on 11 hits and three walks with two strikeouts. She held the Tigers to two runs through the first six innings. Sorenson matched her career high of 7.0 innings pitched, which she set three days ago in a victory against the Utah.
Hanna Winter and Lauren Wegner also had nice showings offensively for Stanford (16-19, 1-5 Pac-12), going 2-for-5 and 1-for-2, respectively. Winter produced two RBIs while Wegner added a RBI, a run and a walk.
Stanford took an early 1-0 lead when it rallied to load the bases in the top of the second inning with two outs and Winter produced a RBI-single. The Cardinal had plenty of opportunities throughout the game to add runs but had difficulty finding the hit needed to break the game open, leaving runners on base in each of the first six innings.
Pacific loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning and took a 2-1 lead on a two-RBI single up the middle by Toni Santos. The Tigers threatened again in the bottom of the fifth, getting two runners on with one out but Sorenson was able to get the next batter to ground into a double play to halt the rally.
Stanford retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Bonstrom drilled a bases-loaded two-RBI double to the left field gap.
The Cardinal broke the game open in the seventh with six runs, including a grand slam by Bonstrom. After Wegner and Winter contributed RBIs, Bonstrom hammered a towering home run to deep right field to put the Cardinal up 9-2.
Pacific continued to battle in the bottom half of the inning, scoring five runs on two- and three-run home runs to cut Stanford’s lead to 9-7. Following the three-run home run, Sorenson was able to get the next batter to ground out to secure the victory.
It will be a quick turnaround for Stanford which travels to Washington for a three-game series beginning Thursday at 5 p.m. (PT).