STANFORD, Calif. — With a break in the weather, No. 11 Stanford softball wrapped up its annual DeMarini Invitational against No. 5 Georgia. Fans were treated to an incredible pitcher's duel inside Smith Family Stadium, with both team's aces matching strike for strike. It wound up being freshmen Ava Gall ending the afternoon with her second home run of the day, winning it 3-1 for Stanford in nine innings, improving the Card to 13-4.
Gall was the only source of offense for Stanford on Sunday, driving in all three runs with two swings of the bat. In the fourth inning, she swung at the first pitch she saw from Lilli Backes and took it opposite field for a solo home run. After her first home run, the offense got stuck in neutral, with Stanford unable to get a runner past second base until the decisive ninth inning.
River Mahler opened up the bottom of the ninth inning with a deep fly to left that one hopped the wall, resulting in a sliding triple. Georgia responded by bringing the infield and outfield in with Gall at the plate, and Gall delivered one of the best at bats of the season. She fell behind 0-2, regathered herself, worked the count full and then fouled off two additional pitches. On the eighth pitch of the battle with Backes, she deposited the ball over the wall in right center, resulting in a 3-1 Stanford win and her first multi-home run game as a Cardinal.
NiJaree Canady was in the circle for Stanford, and after hitting the first batter of the game on her first pitch, she settled in to nearly make Stanford history. She retired the next 14 batters in a row, and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, putting herself in position for what could have been the first seven-inning no-hitter by a Card in over 10 years. Lyndi Rae Davis of Georgia had other plans, as she took Canady's first pitch in the seventh inning over the wall in left to tie the game at 1-1.
Still, it was a fantastic outing for Canady in picking up her sixth win. She went all nine innings and allowed just two hits, while striking out 18 without allowing a walk. The 18 strikeouts tie a career-best for Canady and are the second-most in a single game in program history. It also represents the most strikeouts in a game this season by a pitcher in the NCAA.
Stanford remains at home this week with a midweek affair with Pacific on Wednesday at 4:00 pm. The Card will then host Nevada and LMU on Friday beginning at 3:00 pm.
