STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 15 Cardinal topped California tonight 7-4, moving to 31-8 (10-6) on the year by continuing a recent trend – hitting plenty of home runs. Stanford hit four homers, two of which came off the bat of Emily Jones, to win 7-4 at Stanford Stadium.
California took the lead in the first inning, pushing a run across to go ahead 1-0. The lead wouldn’t last for long.
In the Card’s half of the first inning, Jones went yard to tie it at 1-1. Then three batters later, Kyra Chan doubled in a run to give Staford a 2-1 lead. The double into the gap pushed Chan’s hitting streak to 17 games, the longest by a Stanford hitter since at least 2011.
The streak is tied for the longest active in the NCAA.
The Bears responded with two runs of their own in the top of the second to go ahead at 3-2. Again, the Cardinal was able to answer in the home half of the inning. Taryn Kern singled in a run to level it at 3-3.
Yet again Cal answered, going ahead 4-3, and yet again Stanford kept par. Jade Berry led off the bottom of the third with a solo home run to tie it at four.
Berry’s home run was her 10th of the season, and fourth in the last five games. The total makes her the third Cardinal hitter to post 10 home runs this season. Last season, Aly Kaneshiro and Ava Gall became the first double-digit home run hitters for Stanford since 2015.
In the fourth inning, Jones went yard again to make it a 5-4 Cardinal lead. The long ball was the eighth of the season for Jones.
After entering in relief to start the fourth inning, Alyssa Houston was sharp in the circle. The sophomore finished with three innings of work, striking out three and allowing just two hits in a scoreless outing to pick up the save.
In the sixth, another Cardinal hitter left the yard. This time it was Sydney Boulaphinh, hitting her sixth of the season and third in the last five games, making it a 6-4 game. Later in the inning, River Mahler singled to bring in another run and extend her hitting streak to 17 alongside Chan.
Stanford will do it again against California tomorrow 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 30-8 (9-6) on the season.
- Juniors Kyra Chan and River Mahler both extended their hitting streaks to 17 games.
- With tonight’s four home runs, the Cardinal has now hit 22 homers in the last five games.
- Sophomore Alyssa Houston earned her team-leading fourth save of the year.
- Nine different Cardinal batters earned a hit tonight.
- Sophomore Jade Berry’s home run was her 10th of the season, giving Stanford three different players with home runs in the same season for the first time since at least 2006.