STANFORD, Calif. – Alana Vawter pitched a shutout and delivered the walk-off hit, and Stanford softball (24-9) rode the wave to an 8-0 victory over Santa Clara in five innings, Tuesday at Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium.
The Cardinal scored in all five innings to pick up its eighth run-rule victory of the season. Vawter and Sydney Steele both drove in two runs, while four different batters had an extra-base hit on the night. The victory moves Vawter to 15-4 on the season, as the junior struck out six to only two hits and zero walks for her seventh shutout of the year.
Stanford opened the scoring on an unearned run in the first thanks to a Taylor Gindlesperger stolen base. The junior advanced to third after the throw from the plate went wide for an error. Gindlesperger scored on a RBI groundout from Steele and was 2-for-2 with a walk on the night.
Doubles from Emily Young and Emily Schultz in the second and third inning extended the Cardinal lead, and Schultz scored on a single up the right side from Kaitlyn Lim to make it a 4-0 game. Stanford scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth to end the game early, with two of those runs coming off Vawter's double into the gap.
The Cardinal had 11 hits on the night – including a triple from Ellee Eck – for a dominant offensive effort against the Broncos (14-21).
Stanford returns to action this weekend to close out a stretch of seven-straight home games, hosting No. 2/3 UCLA at Smith Family Stadium. All three of this weekend's games are sold out but are available to watch on the Stanford Live Stream.