STANFORD, Calif. – Opening a three-game Pac-12 series on Friday night, No. 25 Stanford (28-7, 5-2 Pac-12) suffered a 2-1 setback at the hands of Utah (14-24, 3-7 Pac-12).
For just the second time this year (20-2), Stanford suffered a loss after scoring first, grabbing a 1-0 lead on a productive groundout from Hannah Howell in the bottom of the fourth inning. Montana Dixon and Whitney Burks had reached on a walk and a single, respectively, to get the ball rolling for Stanford in the inning.
Senior Carolyn Lee was impressive despite being saddled with a tough-luck loss, going the distance and allowing just two runs on five hits with four strikeouts. The only real mistake Lee made in the game came in the sixth inning as senior Ally Dickman connected for a two-run home run to hand Utah the late lead that allowed for the upset. Lee had hit Julia Noskin earlier in the inning to put the tying run aboard, setting the table for the one-out blast.
On the other side of the pitchers' duel, Hailey Hilburn went all seven innings, allowing just the one run on four hits and three walks while striking out four. The victory moved Hilburn to 5-8, while the loss dropped Lee to 9-3.
Stanford will look to even the series on Saturday at 3 p.m. in a contest that will be played as part of Stanford's Cardinalpalooza.