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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Stanford suffered a 5-4 walk-off defeat against Drake on Sunday to conclude play at the Easton Crimson Classic.
The Cardinal (12-8) held leads in the third and sixth innings but could not hold off the Bulldogs (14-8) for the victory.
Stanford took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth inning but surrendered a run in the bottom half of the inning. With the score tied 4-4 in the seventh, the Cardinal had a runner in scoring position with one out but could not generate the hit needed to take the lead.
The Bulldogs rallied for a run in the bottom half of the frame to complete the comeback.
Eight Cardinal players recorded at least one hit and six players registered a double. Kristina Inouye led Stanford offensively, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Teaghan Cowles and Arden Pettit also contributed an RBI apiece.
It was a team effort in the circle with three Stanford pitchers making appearances. Carolyn Lee got the start and went 4.0 innings, limiting Drake to three runs on eight hits and no walks with two strikeouts. Haley Snyder and Nikki Bauer (4-2) each contributed 1.1 innings in relief. The trio did not permit any walks.
Stanford finished the weekend 2-3, splitting two-game sets with both Drake and Jacksonville, and falling to No. 11 Alabama.
Lauren Bertoy paced the Cardinal offensively, going 7-for-16 (.438) with two doubles, four RBIs, two runs and two walks. Cowles continued the hot start to her career, batting .333 with team highs in RBIs (6) and doubles (3).
Kiana Pancino led Stanford's pitching staff with a 1.75 ERA, holding opponents to a .214 batting average in three appearances. She excelled against Alabama, limiting the Crimson Tide to one run on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 5.1 innings.
Stanford got off to a slow start against Drake, producing two hits in the first three innings.
The Bulldogs nearly took an early lead in the bottom of the second inning but Bessie Noll made a great defensive play to keep the Bulldogs off the board.
With runners on first and second with two outs, Drake's batter singled to center field. The runner on second rounded third and headed for home. Noll fielded the ball and fired to Montana Dixon at home who applied the tag for the final out of the inning.
Stanford capitalized on a Drake error in the top of the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. Lauren Wegner led off with an infield single. Hannah Howell slapped a grounder to third in the following at-bat.
Drake's third baseman tried to get Wegner at second but her throw sailed high into the outfield and rolled to the outfield fence.
Wegner scored from first and Howell advanced to third. Cowles brought Howell in with a sacrifice fly in the following at-bat to double Stanford's lead to, 2-0.
Four straight singles and a fielder's choice brought in three runs for Drake in the bottom of the third inning to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead.
Stanford had opportunities to add runs in the fourth and fifth innings but left a pair of runners stranded in each frame.
Stanford retook the lead in the top of the sixth inning. Dixon doubled down the left field line with one out. Inouye followed with a double to nearly the exact same spot to bring in a run at tie the score, 3-3.
Arden Pettit pinch-hit with two outs and doubled down the right field to bring in a second run and give Stanford a 4-3 advantage.
The lead did not last long as the Bulldogs responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning to level the score, 4-4.
Bessie Noll doubled with one out in the top of the seventh and advanced to third on a ground out by Bertoy but Stanford could not generate the hit needed to bring her home.
Drake completed the comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning. Sarah Maddox hit a one-out single and rounded the bases in the following at-bat when Kailee Smith doubled to the left-center field gap.
Stanford will look to rebound with six straight home games this coming week. The Cardinal plays host to UC Davis on Wednesday at 5 p.m. (PT) before welcoming four teams over the weekend for the Stanford Easton Classic.
