SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The good times were rolling for Stanford softball on Sunday. The Cardinal responded from a disappointing split to St. Mary's on Thursday with a sweep of Cal Poly – outscoring the Mustangs 18-0 over two games.
Stanford (14-4) edged out a 4-0 victory in the first game of the day, and it scored a season-high 14 runs in a 14-0 victory in five innings to close out the second game of the day. Eleni Spirakis batted in three runs while going 4-for-4 at the plate. The fifth-year senior hit a double and triple over both games.
The 14 runs are the most the Cardinal have scored in a game since a 14-1 win over Toledo last season (March 7, 2020). The team was 11-for-24 at the plate and hit .600 with runners in scoring position, and .375 with two outs, in the second game.
Despite the lopsided score in the second game, the Cardinal got timely RBIs from Spirakis, Kristina Inouye and Sydney Steele to win the first game. Cal Poly (5-5) matched Stanford's eight hits but went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position.
Spirakis led off the top of the second with a triple that bounced off the top of the fence in right field. She reached home for the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly from Steele, as both teams only put one runner in scoring position over the third, fourth and fifth innings. Spirakis would give the Cardinal an insurance run on a RBI single to left center in the top of the sixth, while Inouye batted in Emily Young on a sacrifice fly in the frame.
Alana Vawter matched her win total from 2020, pitching a complete game shutout. The sophomore struck out seven Mustang batters to improve to 9-1 on the year.
Stanford took control early and never looked back in the second game of the day, busting the game open with a six-run inning in the top of the third. The Cardinal hit for extra bases three times in that frame – a Sydnee Huff triple, and doubles from Spirakis and Young – to make it a 10-0 ballgame.
Inouye single to right field to put her and Emily Schultz on the corners. From there, the bottom of the Stanford lineup continued to take care of business. Huff tripled to the wall in left center to clear the bases, while Montana Dixon singled to center field to bring Huff home.
Back-to-back doubles from Young and Spirakis gave the Cardinal a commanding lead. The Mustangs managed only XX hits over its final three trips to the plate to end the game after five innings. Stanford added four runs in the top of the fifth, while Cal Poly stranded a runner on second.
Regan Krause and Maddy Dwyer combined to limit the Mustangs to three hits over five innings, with no runners making it past second base. Young, Spirakis, Schultz and Huff all batted in multiple runs in the second game.
Stanford will open the Pac-12 season with its bye week from conference play next weekend. The Cardinal will host Loyola Marymount for a three-game series, March 20-21, and make a trip to BYU, March 24, before opening conference play at Utah the following weekend.
