STANFORD, Calif. – Despite a pair of late rallies, the No. 12 Cardinal fell to 8-4 this afternoon with 4-1 and 4-3 losses to No. 15 Arizona and Boise State, respectively. Stanford pitchers carried no-hit bids into the sixth inning of both games, and the final out of both games came with Cardinal runners on second and third.
Addyson Sheppard opened up the scoring in the bottom of the second, homering to left-center on the Card’s first hit of the day.
Arizona answered in the top of the third, tying the game at 1-1 without recording a hit. A leadoff walk came went to third after a pair of wild pitches, then scored on an RBI groundout.
The Wildcats scored again in the sixth, going ahead 4-1 on a three-run homer. All three runs were unearned, after an error earlier in the inning. The big fly ended Zoe Prystajko’s no-hit bid at 5.2 innings, after the sophomore had struck out seven and walked three.
Prystajko finished the day with one hit allowed in seven innings, finishing with nine strikeouts and just one earned run allowed.
The Card put runners on second and third with no outs in the seventh, but was unable to bring one home in the final frame for a 4-1 loss.
Stanford carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning again in the second game of the day, this time with Alyssa Houston against Boise State.
Joie Economides singled in a run in the fourth, then a Sydney Boulaphinh sacrifice fly brought in another for a 2-0 Cardinal lead. Another sacrifice fly from Jade Berry in the fifth would push the lead to 3-0.
Houston entered the sixth inning with 11 strikeouts and no hits allowed, but the Broncos struck for five runs in the inning to take the lead.
Economides drove in another run in the bottom of the seventh to bring it back within a run, but the final out of the game came with runners on to second and third to fall just short.
The Card finishes the DeMarini Invitational tomorrow, playing in another doubleheader. Stanford hosts Boise State at noon, then Santa Clara at 2:30 p.m. PT.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Freshman Addyson Sheppard hit her second home run of the season in the bottom of the second inning against Arizona.
- Cardinal pitchers combined for 21 strikeouts in the two games.