CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - Stanford swept its opening games of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Saturday afternoon, blanking Grand Canyon 5-0 before powering past UAB 12-6.
The Cardinal (4-4) has won three straight after dropping four of five to begin the season.
In the opener, Stanford made quick work of Grand Canyon behind a dominant two-hit shutout from Maddy Dwyer, her second in four career starts. Dwyer scattered two hits and walked two while striking out a season-high nine.
Stanford's offense took care of the rest, racing out to a 3-0 lead through the first two innings. Kristina Inouye belted a solo homer in the sixth and Teaghan Cowles capped the scoring in the seventh with her second RBI single of the game. Alyssa Horeczko finished with a game-high three hits in four at-bats while scoring two runs.
The second game was a back-and-forth affair, with the Cardinal erupting for five runs in the fifth to take command.
Trailing 4-0, Stanford cut the lead in half following a two-run shot from Montana Dixon. One inning later, it was 4-4 thanks to a two-run triple from Horeczko.
UAB moved ahead 6-4 in the bottom of the fourth before Stanford made its move. The Cardinal broke through for five runs in the fifth, added a sacrifice fly from Inouye in the sixth and rounded out the scoring with two more runs in the seventh.
Horeczko and Cowles both finished 4-for-5 and combined for five RBI while Stanford pounded out 14 hits.
Kiana Pancino earned the win in relief, allowing only one hit and one walk with two strikeouts over the final 6.1 innings.
Stanford returns to action Sunday against UC Riverside (9:30 a.m.) and Army (12 p.m.).