Stanford (3-2)
North Dakota State (2-3)
Saint Mary’s (2-3)
Long Beach State (2-3)
Tournament Central
Live Statistics • Via GoStanford.com
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STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford makes its home debut this weekend when it plays host to three teams as part of the Nike Invitational.
The four-team, nine-game event begins Friday and concludes on Sunday. Admission is free to all games and live statistics will be available on GoStanford.com.
The Cardinal (3-2) is coming off a strong opening weekend at the Kajikawa Classic where it picked up wins against Portland State, Cal Poly and Seattle U.
Kylie Sorenson paced Stanford offensively going 7-for-15 (.467) with five runs, five RBIs, a home run and a .667 slugging percentage.
Kayla Bonstrom, a 2015 NFCA All-American, continued where she left off and went 6-for-14 (.429) with six runs, three RBIs, a home run and a .643 slugging percentage. Jessica Plaza, Molly Fowkes and Bessie Noll each hit .313 or better on the weekend.
Carolyn Lee made her collegiate debut in the circle and went 1-1 during the tournament. She held a 2.10 ERA and permitted eight runs – four earned – on 15 hits and three walks in 13.1 innings. Haley Snyder pitched 16.0 innings over three games and held a 3.50 ERA with 13 strikeouts.
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2015 IN REVIEW
• Stanford battled through injuries and adversity during the 2015 season but produced a number of highlight moments en route to a 17-37 record and 2-22 mark in the Pac-12. The Cardinal defeated five NCAA Tournament teams, recorded single-season top 10 numbers in multiple offensive categories and saw one of the best single-season individual performances in program history by Kayla Bonstrom.
• Stanford picked up victories against NCAA Tournament teams No. 3/4 Alabama, No. 24/23 Arizona State, RV/25 Texas, Utah and Weber State.
• The Cardinal was strong offensively, finishing the season in the top-10 in program history in walks (T-6th, 198), home runs (8th, 39), triples (8th, 11), slugging percentage (9th, .422) and RBI (10th, 259).
SORENSON STARTS STRONG
• Kylie Sorenson had a strong opening weekend at the Kajikawa Classic, hitting .467 (7-for-15) with five RBIs, five runs, five walks, a home run and a .667 slugging percentage.
Sorenson leads Stanford with a .467 batting average. (Photo by David Bernal)
NOLL PROVIDES POWER
• Junior centerfielder Bessie Noll hit three home runs in the first two games of the season to power Stanford’s offense. She finished the weekend 5-for-16 (.313) with five runs, four RBIs, two walks and a .938 slugging percentage.
• Noll grew up playing baseball in Tokyo, Japan, and only played softball during the summer of her high school years.
IN THE CIRCLE
• Sophomore Haley Snyder and freshman Carolyn Lee will be the focal points in the circle. Snyder made 29 appearances (15 starts), picking up 38 strikeouts in 112.2 innings before she was sidelined by an injury.
• Lee was a 2015 Cal-Hi Sports All-State third team selection from nearby Dougherty Valley High School and is expected to play a major role beginning early in the season. Sophomore Kaitlyn Lagattuta will likely see some innings in the circle as relief.
PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF
• Kayla Bonstrom (international relations), a 2015 NFCA All-America Second Team selection, picked up where she left off last season and hit .429 (6-for-14) during the season-opening Kajikawa Classic.
• Bonstrom was named to the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Preseason Top-50 Watch List.
• Bonstrom was a force at the plate and led Stanford in every major offensive category throughout the 2015 season. She was named a NFCA Second Team All-American, NFCA All-West Region First Team at first base, All-Pac-12 First Team and a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention.
• Bonstrom had at least one hit in 40-of-54 games (74 percent) and registered a hit in 23 of her final 34 contests, accumulating 42 hits during that span.
• Bonstrom set the Stanford single-season slugging percentage record at .806 – becoming the first Cardinal player to break the .800 mark. She finished in the top-11 in multiple single-season categories in Stanford history including: batting average (5th, .439), home runs (T-5th, 13), RBI (T-7th, 54), doubles (11th, 16) and fielding percentage (T-2nd, .997). She was solid defensively, committing just one error in 381 chances.
• Bonstrom finished the 2015 regular season ranked 41st in the nation in batting average (.439), 24th in on-base percentage (.549) and 39th in slugging percentage (.806). She finished in the top-10 among Pac-12 players in multiple categories, including: on-base percentage (4th, .549), batting average (5th, .439), slugging percentage (5th, .806), doubles (T-5th, 16), hits (T-6th, 68), total bases (T-7th, 125), RBI (10th, 54) and putouts (2nd, 365).