ATLANTA – The No. 17 Cardinal trailed 9-3 heading into the fifth inning at Georgia Tech today, but leaves with a 16-12 win. After a hitless first three innings, Stanford exploded for 16 hits, including three home runs, to come back and pick up the program’s first ACC win.
The Yellow Jackets took the lead in the third, scoring on a sacrifice fly to go ahead 1-0. The Cardinal bats answered right back in the top of the fourth. Taryn Kern and River Mahler led off with back-to-back singles. Then with two outs, Kyra Chan went yard on the first pitch to make it a 3-1 game.
Georgia Tech responded with an eight-run fourth inning, behind five walks and two home runs to go up 9-3.
Stanford quickly put up their own rally in the fifth, after Emily Jones led off with a solo homer to center. Kylie Chung, hitting for herself after entering the circle in relief, singled and came around to score on an RBI double from Mahler. Mahler crossed home after a two-out single from Allie Clements to bring the score to 9-6.
The Card added two more in the sixth, behind back-to-back doubles from Jones and Chung. Caelan Koch singled in Chung from third to make it a one-run game at 9-8.
Jade Berry led off with a walk, before back-to-back singles loaded the bases for Joie Economides. Economides drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 9-9, leaving the bases loaded with no outs. Enter Jones, already sitting on a homer and double in the game.
Jones crushed a ball over the center field fence to bring everyone home, making it a 13-9 Cardinal lead. After three-straight singles, Mahler drew the inning’s second bases-loaded walk to bring in the team’s 14th run of the game. Berry and Clements capped the inning with a pair of RBI fielders choices to make it a 16-9 Stanford lead.
When the dust settled, Stanford had scored eight runs on six hits in the seventh inning.
Georgia Tech scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it a 16-12 final.
Alyssa Houston picked up the win in the circle, moving to 4-1 on the season behind three strikeouts in two innings of relief work.
Stanford closes out the series tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 10:00 a.m. PT. The game can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Stanford moved to 13-3 (1-1) on the season, winning an ACC conference game for the first time in program history.
- Junior Kyra Chan hit her third home run of the season, and fourth of her career.
- Senior Kylie Chung went 3-for-3 in her first at bats of the season, scoring three times and driving in a run to help her own cause in the circle.
- Junior Emily Jones hit her fourth and fifth home runs of the season, bringing her career total to seven.
- Jones finished the game with five runs driven in, going 3-for-4 with two home runs, a double and three runs scored.
- Nine different Cardinal hitters finished the game with a run scored.