BOISE, Idaho – The No. 15 Cardinal outslugged Boise State this afternoon, winning 18-13 in a game that featured 31 combined runs on 27 hits. Stanford moves to 29-8 on the season, wrapping up a three-game sweep of the Broncos that saw the Cardinal score 42 runs on 13 homers. The outburst featured a program record 37 total bases, tying the program runs-scored record with 18.
Taryn Kern opened the game up right where she left off yesterday – homering to centerfield for her 16th of the season and sixth in her last five games.
The Broncos answered with a run in the bottom half of the frame, scoring without registering a hit on a bases-loaded wild pitch.
Stanford’s bats kept going in the second, with Kylie Chung driving in a run before Allie Clements hit a two-run home run to make it a 4-1 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Boise St. scored four runs to take the lead at 5-4.
After a silent third, Stanford struck for three in the top of the fourth to retake the lead at 7-5. Jade Berry doubled in a pair of runs, then came around to score herself on an RBI single from Kyra Chan.
Boise answered right back however, scoring six in the bottom of the fourth to go back ahead at 11-7.
Not to be outdone, the Cardinal posted six runs in the top of the fifth to go back in front for the fourth lead change of the afternoon. Chung crushed her third home run of the season, and second of the weekend, to score three and cut the deficit to one at 10-11.
Then two batters later, Kern did what Kern does – smoked a ball over the fence for her second home run of the day, seventh in the last five games and 17th of the season. Kern leads the Cardinal and is now just two shy of matching the program’s single-season record of 19.
The long ball was also the 68th of the season for the Cardinal, breaking a program single-season record that had stood since the 2005 season. The two-run shot made it a 13-11 scoreline.
Another run came home for the Cardinal in the sixth, scoring on a Bronco error to make it 14-11. Then to break it wide open, Jade Berry hit a grand slam to make it an 18-11 game with 11 unanswered runs from Stanford.
The Broncos added two more in the sixth to make it an 18-13 final.
Stanford is on the road on Tuesday, taking on Pacific at 4:00 p.m. PT before returning home for a three-game slate against California. The ACC series with the Golden Bears starts on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. PT, leading up to Saturday’s Big Swing at 1:00 p.m. PT.
The Cardinal and Bears are looking to break the NCAA softball single game attendance record playing at Stanford Stadium. More information, and tickets, are available at GoStanfod.com/BigSwing.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Stanford moves to 29-8 (9-6) on the season.
- Juniors Kyra Chan and River Mahler both extended their hitting streaks to 15 games.
- The Cardinal finished the game with five home runs, and 13 in the three-game series.
- The 13 home runs in a single weekend is the second-best total from the Card this season, after hitting 15 at the five-game Cardinal Classic in week two.
- Kern’s home run in the fifth inning was her 17th of the season, and the team’s 68th. The total is a new program record for team homers in a single season, eclipsing a mark that had stood since 2005.
- Sophomore Jade Berry’s seventh home run of the season built on the record-breaking total, bringing it to 69.
- The Card’s 37 total bases this afternoon set a new program record in a single game, passing the previous best of 32 from 2017.
- Stanford tallied 18 runs in the win, tying a program record for runs in a game for the third time.