STANFORD, Calif. – Taryn Kern’s 3-for-4 performance paced a 10-hit attack as No. 18 Stanford defeated No. 24 Oklahoma State 4-2 on Thursday night as 1,358 fans attended the first game played in newly renovated Stanford Softball Stadium.
Kern doubled and scored twice while Ava Gall added two hits and two RBI, including a run-scoring single in the fifth inning that put the game out of reach.
Zoe Prystajko was impressive in the circle, striking out a career-high nine over 5.2 innings while allowing only four hits. Alyssa Houston retired the final four batters and fanned two to earn the save.
Stanford (1-0) is coming off one of its best offensive seasons in school history, establishing new program records for batting average, hits, home runs and runs scored while reaching the postseason for the sixth straight year.
The Cardinal was playing its first true home game since an 8-0 run-rule victory against LSU in the NCAA Regionals on May 26, 2024, clinching the program’s second straight Women’s College World Series berth.
That’s because the Cardinal played its entire 2025 home schedule inside Stanford Stadium, with the football venue serving as the softball program’s home turf during a season in which Stanford finished 22-4 and set an NCAA single-game attendance record with a crowd of 13,207 at the Big Swing against California on April 19.
Stanford wasted little time acclimating to its new digs in the bottom of the first. Kern doubled on a full count to deep left field for the game’s first hit and advanced to third on an error. River Mahler followed with an RBI single to right center, plating Kern for a 1-0 lead.
Gall’s two-out RBI single provided some insurance in the bottom of the fifth, scoring Kern and Mahler to make it 3-0.
Oklahoma State (0-1) responded with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth thanks to Jayelle Austin’s two-run homer that scored Claire Timm.
The Cardinal tacked on another run in the sixth. Emily Jones doubled with one out and moved to third on Addyson Sheppard’s infield single. Jones then came around to score on Kern’s RBI single.
Thursday’s game was the first of 16 straight home games for the Cardinal, which will play five games over the next four days as part of the Stanford Invitational.
The Cardinal is back in action tomorrow, taking on San José State at 5 p.m. PT. Tickets are on sale at Tickets.GoStanford.com, and the game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Sophomore Zoe Prystajko earned the opening day start, picking up a career-high nine strikeouts in the win.
- Junior Alyssa Houston struck out two of the four batters she faced to earn the save.
- Senior Taryn Kern led the attack with three hits, one of six Cardinal batters to record a base knock.
- Freshman Addyson Sheppard made her collegiate debut, earning the start at DP.
- Sheppard picked up her first career hit in the bottom of the sixth, a single.
- Fellow freshmen Sophia Jin and Jordana King made their debuts as well, entering as pinch runners.