STANFORD, Calif. – For the second time in three days, No. 24 Stanford walked off No. 5 Florida State. Today’s hero was Jade Berry, who singled in the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning. The win caps a three-game sweep over the Seminoles, and pushes the Cardinal to 26-12 on the year and 12-6 in ACC play.
For the second game in a row, Florida State scored the opening run. The Seminoles pushed one across in the top of the first on two singles and a walk.
Stanford answered with a strong start in the bottom of the first, finishing the frame with three runs on five hits. Taryn Kern opened it with a leadoff single, scoring on a Kyra Chan base knock after Emily Jones bunted her over.
Chan was thrown out at the plate on a single from River Mahler, but Mahler came in to score when Jade Berry doubled into the right-center gap. Berry raced in from second to score on the next at-bat, a Joie Economides single, to take a 3-1 lead.
Anna Brewer, who earned the start in the circle, followed it up with a shutdown inning in the top of the second. The freshman worked around a double and a hit-by-pitch to keep Florida State off the scoreboard.
Florida State went back in front 4-3 in the top of the fourth, with all three runs coming on an Isa Torres homer to left field. Alyssa Houston got the final two outs of the inning, stranding her one inherited runner.
Another run came home for the Seminoles in the sixth, but the Card was able to answer in the bottom of the inning.
Kern got the rally started with a solo home run to left-center to cut the lead in half. Her 15th home run of the year was also the second of the weekend, hitting a three-run shot on Friday.
Jones followed it up with a walk, coming in to score the tying run on a two-out RBI single from Mahler.
Zoe Prystajko got through the seventh inning scoreless, but the Card was unable to end the game in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth, Prystajko surrendered a leadoff single but was able to keep the Seminoles scoreless again.
In the home half of the eighth, the Cardinal was able to close it out. Kern, Chan and Jones loaded the bases with one out.
Jade Berry stepped into the box, and singled to right-center on the first pitch she saw to walk the game off at 6-5.
The Cardinal is on the road next, heading to the central valley for a Wednesday matchup with Fresno State. Stanford then returns home for a three-game series with NC State, beginning Friday at 6:00 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra, and tickets are still available at Tickets.GoStanford.com.
POSTGAME NOTES:.
- Junior Jade Berry’s two RBI give her 33 of the year, the second-most on the team.
- Berry’s double in the first inning was her 12th of the season, tied for the team lead.
- Senior Taryn Kern’s home run was her 15th of the season and 41st of her career.
- The 41 career home runs move her out of a tie and into sole possession of the third-most in program history.
- Kern’s 15 home runs on the season are tied for the fourth-most in a year in program history.
- The eight-inning win is the Card’s first extra-inning game of the season.