SEATTLE, Wash. – Twenty-first ranked Stanford softball dropped the opening game of the series to No. 11/10 Washington, Friday night at Husky Softball Stadium, 5-0.
The Cardinal (32-14, 8-8 Pac-12) held the Huskies to six hits on the night, but home runs from Madison Huskey in the first and fifth innings contributed to the loss. Alana Vawter and Molly Millar combined for seven strikeouts to two walks over six innings as Washington stranded three runners on base.
Huskey hit her first home run with one out in the first inning to score a pair of runs for the early lead.
Stanford responded by loading the bases in the bottom half of the inning – thanks to singles from Ellee Eck and Emily Schultz. Down to the final out of the inning, it was unable to push a run across after the final batter struck out.
Kaitlyn Lim started a Cardinal rally after reaching first on an infield single in the fourth inning. When the Washington (30-11, 10-6 Pac-12) throw to first went high and out of the field of play, Lim was awarded second base and she later advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Down 2-0, Stanford was unable to push a run across after back-to-back outs.
Taylor Gindlesperger doubled on the night – her ninth of the season – and made several amazing catches at the warning track.
The Cardinal looks to respond and even the series on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch at 2 p.m.