Stanford (13-32, 0-21 Pac-12)
No. 13/14 Washington (33-13, 13-8 Pac-12)
Thu. • 5 p.m. | Fri. • 3 p.m. | Sat. • 12 p.m.
Television • Pac-12 Network
Live Statistics • Via GoStanford.com
Promotions • Sat. » Senior Day, Bark in the Park
Social • Facebook » StanfordSBall – Twitter » StanfordSBall – Instagram » StanfordSoftball – Snapchat » ‘stanfordsball’
STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford concludes its season this weekend when it plays host to No. 13/14 Washington for a three-game series.
The series begins Thursday at 5 p.m. (PT), continues Friday at 3 p.m. and concludes Saturday at 12 p.m. All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
Saturday’s game will be Senior Day and the Cardinal will honor its three seniors – Kayla Bonstrom, Jessica Plaza and Kaitlin Schaberg – after the game.
The Cardinal (13-32, 0-21 Pac-12) dropped all three games this past weekend at Arizona State despite multiple highlight performances. Bonstrom (5-for-10) and Schaberg (4-for-8) each hit .500 on the weekend and combined for three home runs. Bessie Noll (.444) and Haley Snyder (.429) also had nice showings offensively.
Highlights from Stanford's finale at Arizona State.
THE WASHINGTON SERIES
• Stanford is 28-42 all-time against Washington (33-13, 13-8 Pac-12) and went 0-3 last season. The Huskies’ offense was firing on all cylinders during last year’s series and outscored the Cardinal 41-12 over three games.
NINE SIGN NATIONAL LETTERS OF INTENT
• Stanford has nine incoming freshmen during the fall of 2016. All have signed NLIs – six in the fall and three in the spring. Incoming freshmen include: Nicole Bauer, Teaghan Cowles, Kayler Detmer, Montana Dixon, Alyssa Horeczko, Hannah Howell, Kristina Inouye, Maya Jackson and Kiana Pancino.
MENDOZA NAMED ALL-CENTURY
• Mendoza is one of 30 softball players selected to the All-Century Team. She is one of the most accomplished Stanford softball players in program history and has had an impact on sports beyond the softball field. Mendoza was a four-time All-American at Stanford, a starting outfielder for the U.S. National Team from 2004-10 and won Olympic medals in 2004 (gold) and 2008 (silver).
• Mendoza has paved new paths for women in sports broadcasting, becoming the first female broadcaster in the booth for ESPN’s College World Series, the first female analyst for an MLB game on ESPN and the first female analyst for Sunday Night Baseball. She also became the first female analyst in MLB Postseason history when she broadcasted the 2015 American League Wild Card Game. Mendoza moved into a full-time role on Sunday Night Baseball in 2016.
Jessica Mendoza is Stanford's all-time leader in career batting average (.416).
BONSTROM EXCELS ON FIELD AND IN CLASSROOM
• Kayla Bonstrom (international relations), a 2015 NFCA All-America Second Team selection, has played in 212 of a possible 214 games throughout her career – making 210 starts. She leads Stanford in 2016 in hits (41), doubles (12), triples (2), runs (26), total bases (71), and is second in batting average (.304) and RBIs (24).
• Bonstrom had a big weekend at Arizona State, going 5-for-10 (.500) with two home runs, a double, four runs, two RBIs and a 1.200 slugging percentage.
• Bonstrom missed Stanford’s midweek game against Pacific (April 6) because she was presenting her senior thesis at the United States Military Academy Combating Terrorism Center at West Point conference on terrorism, insurgency and asymmetric conflicts.
• Bonstrom has exceled in the classroom and was a 2015 Capital One Academic Second Team All-American and All-District Softball Team District 8 selection. She was selected to the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies during her junior year to develop a senior thesis with the federal government related to national security. She’s interested in working in national security upon graduation.
Kayla Bonstrom moved into a tie for fifth place in Stanford history with 177 RBIs with a solo home run in the finale at Arizona State.
NOLL RETURNING TO FORM
• Junior centerfielder Bessie Noll had a hot start to the season come to a halt when she was hit by a pitch March 5 and sidelined by the injury. She returned to the field in center field April 6 against Pacific and returned to the batting lineup April 16 against Arizona.
• Noll had a quality weekend at Arizona State, batting .444 (4-for-9) with a home run, two RBIs, three runs and a walk. She provided the defensive highlight of the weekend on Saturday when she caught a fly ball and threw out a runner trying to tag from second and advance to third. Noll was at the edge of the warning track and threw a dart on the fly to Arden Pettit at third to get the runner.
• Noll led Stanford in batting average (.404), home runs (6), doubles (7), runs (18), walks (13), slugging percentage (.885) and on-base percentage (.536) through the first 18 games prior to her injury.
• Noll was streaking during tournament play and hit .400 (4-for-10) with two home runs, four RBIs, five runs, a double and a 1.100 slugging percentage through the first three games of the Malihini Aloha Tournament.
• Noll grew up playing baseball in Tokyo, Japan, and only played softball during the summers of her high school years.
Bessie Noll picked up her fourth assist of the season Saturday at Arizona State.
LEE IMPRESSES IN DEBUT SEASON
• Lee has provided quality starts for the Cardinal throughout the season and consistently positions Stanford within striking distance for victories.
• Lee made her Pac-12 debut at No. 4/7 Oregon and pitched well, holding the Ducks to five earned runs in 10.0 innings with six strikeouts.