TUCSON, Ariz. – Whitney Burks hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth, but No. 24 Stanford fell 9-1 to No. 7 Arizona in five innings, Friday, at Rita Hillenbrand Memorial Stadium.
It was the sixth home run of the season for Burks, who finished 1-for-2 with the RBI. The Cardinal (30-9, 7-4) drops its first Pac-12 series of the season.
Arizona (37-7, 14-0) won its 19th consecutive game and remains the only undefeated team in the Pac-12 Conference.
Senior Carolyn Lee took the loss in the circle, dropping to 10-4 overall. She tallied two strikeouts, but gave up six runs on six hits. Arizona's Alyssa Denham (11-2) earned the win, while Hanah Bowen recorded her third save.
The Wildcats picked up where they left off Thursday as catcher Dejah Mulipola belted a solo home run over the center field wall in the bottom of the second for a 1-0 advantage.
Mulipola remained hot in her second at-bat, drilling a three-run shot to left field in the third to give Arizona a 4-0 lead.
Burks led off the fifth with her home run, just the second hit of the game for Stanford. Junior Hannah Howell followed up with a single to left field and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Emily Young, but the Cardinal left her stranded.
T5 » ?? 4, ?? 1@_whitneyalexis goes yard and the Card is on the board. Sixth HR of the season for Burks.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/lIumz7CDvp
— Stanford Softball (@StanfordSball) April 20, 2019
Arizona put the run-rule into effect by tacking on five runs in the bottom of the fifth, scoring for the first time in the series not on home runs. The win was the 1,600th for head coach Mike Candrea, who is in his 34th season at the helm of the Wildcat program.
The series finale between the Cardinal and Wildcats is scheduled for noon on Saturday.