STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford softball finished off the weekend with a 1-0 victory over Utah to clinch the Pac-12 series, Sunday at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium.
Alana Vawter pitched a gem in the circle to pick up her sixth shutout of the season – accomplishing the feat in only 18 starts. Vawter struck out three batters and allowed only one hit over the final four innings of play.
Chloe Doyle pushed across the decisive run of the weekend on a RBI ground in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Cardinal (23-9, 3-3 Pac-12) opened the inning with back-to-back singles from Sydney Steele and Emily Schultz to chase Shi Smith out of the circle for the Utes. Ellee Eck loaded the bases on a single to left field, paving the way for Doyle's groundout to the second base to plate Steele.
Utah (18-16, 2-4 Pac-12) left nine runners on base. Emily Young made the grab on a line drive through the left side to strand runners on the corners in the top of the third, and Utah left the tying right at first in the seventh to end the game.
Entering the top of the seventh, Vawter threw back-to-back strikeouts to end the game and improve to 14-4 on the season.
The Cardinal returns to action with four games this coming week – starting with a midweek game against Santa Clara, Tuesday. Stanford then hosts No. 2 UCLA in a three-game series.