SEATTLE – The No. 7 Cardinal picked up a top-10 win tonight on the road, topping No. 8 Washington 3-1 in Seattle to move to 38-10 and 14-5 in Pac-12 play. Sophomore pitcher NiJaree Canady was electric in the win, striking out 11 and allowing just one run on four hits.
Stanford jumped out to the early lead, scoring twice in the first inning to give Canady a lead before entering the game.
Senior Aly Kaneshiro drove in sophomore Taryn Kern with an RBI groundout, before sophomore Kyra Chan doubled into the gap to score freshman Ava Gall and make it 2-0.
Canady didn't allow a single baserunner until one batter was gone in the bottom of the fifth, retiring the first 13 batters she faced. The sophomore struck out eight in the stretch.
Washington got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, with a solo homer to cut the lead in half at 2-1. The Huskies had a chance to add more, with the bases loaded and only one out. But Canady got out of the jam, forcing an out at the plate and a strikeout in a 10-pitch battle of an at bat.
The Card answered right back, with freshman Jade Berry crushing a ball to centerfield for her fifth home run of the season to make it 3-1.
Canady closed it down in the bottom of the seventh, striking out the final batter for her 11th punchout of the night to pick up the win.
The performance was Canady's 14th game of the season with 10 or more strikeouts.
The Cardinal has now won 14 Pac-12 games in back-to-back season for the first time in program history – with the total good for the second-most in a season in program history. The Card's program best for Pac-12 wins is 17, set in 1998 when the conference slate was 28 games.
The Card and Huskies are back at it tomorrow, with a 3:00 p.m. PT first pitch on Pac-12 Networks.