AUSTIN, Texas – The Cardinal defeated Louisiana and Colorado State today to move to 7-4 on the season, thanks to a pair of all-around performances on day one of the Lone Star State Invitational.
The Cardinal opened up the morning game against Louisiana by scoring in the second inning, after freshman Ava Gall singled to right field, and senior Aly Kaneshiro was able to cross home on an ensuing throwing error.
Stanford extended the lead in the top of the fifth, with sophomore River Mahler driving in a run with an RBI single to make it 2-0. Then with two outs, Gall hit a hard ball to second that allowed two runs to score on an error.
Louisiana pulled one back in the sixth to cut the lead to 4-1, but sophomore pitcher NiJaree Canady closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning.
Canady ended the game with just one unearned run on one hit in seven innings, striking out 10 in the win.
Stanford opened the second game with an early lead as well, with Mahler hitting a triple to get into scoring position for senior Caelan Koch in the first inning. Koch's RBI groundout made it an early 1-0 lead for the Card.
The Cardinal added another in the second inning, with sophomore Kyra Chan recording an RBI single to score sophomore Emily Jones.
Kaneshiro added a third run in the top of the third inning, doubling to drive in senior Ellee Eck. Kaneshiro extended her team lead in both homers (4) and RBI (12) with the big swing. Colorado State scored in the bottom of the third to make it 3-1.
The two-run lead held until the top of the seventh, when Kaneshiro crushed a three-run homer to left field to make it 6-1. Colorado State added a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 6-2, but it was not enough to stop the Card from going 2-0 on the day.
Freshman Alyssa Houston earned the win, the first of her career, after allowing just one run on three hits in four innings of relief.
Additionally, sophomore Taryn Kern extended her streak of reaching base safely in all 11 games to start the season. Kern leads the team in on base percentage (.500) and has walked at least once in each of the last seven games.
Stanford is back tomorrow with a pair of games on Longhorn Network. The Card opens up against Louisiana at 11:30 a.m. PT, before a 5:00 p.m. PT matchup with the hosting No. 2 Texas Longhorns.