Lead Image by Barbara Lee
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford split a pair of games against Omaha and UC Santa Barbara to open the Nike Invitational on Saturday.
It was a tale of two games for the Cardinal (6-3), which dropped a frustrating 3-2 decision to the Mavericks (2-4) then responded with a dominating 16-2 victory against the Gauchos (1-5).
Stanford had plenty of opportunities against the Mavericks but had trouble capitalizing, leaving 11 runners stranded on base.
Carolyn Lee (3-2) pitched well in the complete game loss, limiting Omaha to three runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Her only major blemish was a two-out three-run home run in the top of the first inning that Omaha leaned on for the win.
The Cardinal erupted offensively against UC Santa Barbara, generating 16 runs on 15 hits. Nine Stanford players registered at least one hit and nine contributed at least one RBI.
Kylie Sorenson led the Cardinal offense with five RBIs in a 3-for-3 batting performance with two doubles and a walk.
Teaghan Cowles, Lauren Frost and Montana Dixon also contributed multi-hit games.
Nikki Bauer (3-1) got the start in the circle and pitched well to earn the victory. She limited the Gauchos to no runs on three hits and one walk with one strikeout in 3.0 innings.
Stanford concludes the tournament Sunday at 11 a.m. (PT) against Pacific.