Stanford heads into the final ACC weekend of the regular season riding an eight-game winning streak, set to take on Santa Clara and California this week. The Cardinal heads south on 101 to play at Santa Clara on Wednesday, before returning home for three games against the Golden Bears Friday through Sunday.
The three games against California will be played at Stanford Softball Stadium, but the Cardinal will be the road team. Stanford hosts the series, originally scheduled to be played at West Valley College, while California builds a new stadium ahead of the 2027 season.
Familiar Foes // Stanford has played both California and Santa Clara this season already, going 2-0 against the local rivals. The Card won both games by a combined score of 18-5.
- Stanford slashed .438/.526/.578, led by Taryn Kern going 4-for-6 with 3 runs, 4 RBI and 2 walks.
Long-time Rivals // Since Paul A. Violich Director of Softball Jessica Allister took over ahead of the 2018 season, Stanford boasts a 15-7 record against California.
- Since suffering a three-game sweep in 2018, the Card has won every season series against the Bears and racked up 15 wins in the last 19 tries.
Season-Best Streak // The Cardinal is on an eight-game winning streak, a season-long hot streak.
- In the span, the Cardinal is slashing .321/.425/.493 at the plate with a 2.80 ERA in the circle.
- Emily Jones has been the Card's hottest hitter in the stretch, leading the team with 15 hits for a .577/.633/.692 line.
- Alyssa Houston (2.10) and Zoe Prystajko (2.23) both boast sub-three ERAs, and the staff as a whole has held opponents to a .193 batting average.
- Stanford has outscored its competition 59-23 in the last eight games, and has held opponents to under three runs five times.
Back in the Circle // Alyssa Houston has been sharp since returning from injury, leading the team in ERA since returning from a nine-game absence.
- Houston owns a 1.68 ERA in 16.2 IP, earning a win and a save in nine appearances.
- The junior has struck out 14 and allowed just eight hits.
EJ on a Hot Streak // Emily Jones is on a tear in the month of April, hitting .432 in the month to pass Taryn Kern for the team lead with a .418 batting average.
- Jones leads the team with 16 hits in the month, scoring 14 runs and driving in four runs.
- Jones has walked four times and been hit by a pitch twice, giving her .512 OBP. The senior is also a perfect 4-for-4 in steal attempts in April, putting her at 13-for-13 on the season.
- The senior is tied for the team lead in hits (51) and is second on the team in runs scored (42).
Taryn Torching // Taryn Kern has been on a tear to start the season, doing it all for the Card in the leadoff spot.
- Kern has posted a .411/.554/.968 slash line through 42 games, good for a staggering 1.521 OPS, leading the Cardinal in all but batting average.
- The leadoff hitter leads the team in runs scored (58), RBI (41), home runs (17) and total bases (120).
- The next-most total bases on the team is Kyra Chan with 81.
- The senior earned the first ACC Player of the Week award of the season for her efforts.
Record-Breaking Senior // Kern is on pace to re-write a number of Stanford softball record books in her senior season.
- Kern's team-leading 17 home runs this season are the fourth-most in a season in program history, and her 43 career home runs are third-best.
- The San Jose native needs two more home runs to match the second-most career homers, a number that would also tie her for the single-season record.
- Kern sits just nine walks away from the program's career record, set by Maddy Coon in 2009.
- Her .968 slugging percentage this season, as well as her .728 career clip, would be single-season and career program records.
- Including her freshman season at Indiana, Kern entered the week leading all active DI players in runs scored (233), walks (174) and hit by pitch (72).
- The senior is also in the top five for career home runs (4th, 66) and total bases (5th, 481).
Dominant Top of the Lineup Card // Kern, Jones and Chan have been a mainstay at the top of the Cardinal lineup, and have been massive contributors to the team's run production.
- The trio is hitting a combined 152-for-374 for a .406 clip, scoring 138 of the team's 293 runs on the season.
- Despite being atop the order, the trio has still driven in 90 runs on the year.
- The three seniors are the top three on the team in batting average and runs scored.
- The top of the lineup has set the middle of the order up for success behind them, drawing 64 walks to 44 strikeouts.
- Once on the bases, the three players are a near-perfect 20-22 in steal attempts.