STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 24 Cardinal bounced back into the win column tonight, beating Saint Mary’s 6-1 to move to 21-11 on the season. Stanford pitching held the Gaels to one run on three hits, striking out eight, and Taryn Kern hit a pair of home runs to power the offensive outburst.
Alyssa Houston earned the start in the circle, striking out two in a hitless first inning. After that, the offenses traded home runs in the next two frames.
Taryn Kern led off for the Cardinal with a bang, homering to start the bottom of the first. St. Mary’s answered with their own solo shot in the top of the second, tying it at 1-1 after Zoe Prystajko took over in the circle at the start of the inning.
Prystajko settled in after the long ball, striking out four-straight batters to keep it tied at 1-1 heading into the home half of the third.
Kern answered for the Card, going yard again in the bottom of the third. This time Kern’s blast came with a runner on ahead of her, after Addyson Sheppard reached on an error. The two-run shot made it a 3-1 Cardinal lead, and brought Kern’s team-leading home run total to 13.
The two-home run outing was the fifth such game in her Cardinal career, and comes just a week after accomplishing the feat at Duke on March 28.
Stanford poured in three more in the fourth, thanks to three doubles in the inning. Ava Gall singled to score River Mahler, then advanced to second on the throw home. Mylia Perez pinch ran for Gall, and scored on a Joie Economides double in the next at bat. Sophia Jin, running for Economides, scored on Sydney Boulaphinh’s double to make it a 6-1 Card lead.
Anna Brewer took over in the circle for Prystajko to start the sixth, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings with just two hits allowed. Prystajko re-entered with two outs and a runner on in the seventh, drawing a groundout to close the game.
Prystajko finished the game with 4.1 non-consecutive innings to earn the win, allowing just one run on one hit. The sophomore struck out six to move to 11-4 on the season.
Stanford closes out the Cardinal Classic II tomorrow, with games against Saint Mary’s at 1:00 p.m. and Washington at 3:30 p.m. PT. Tickets are available at Tickets.GoStanford.com, and both games will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Junior Alyssa Houston earned the start in the circle, her first since March 14 against Notre Dame.
- Senior Taryn Kern’s two home runs brought her season total to 13, and give her 39 in her career.
- Kern’s 39 career home runs are tied for the fourth-most career home runs in program history.
- Kern has now hit two home runs two times in the last four games.
- Sophomore Zoe Prystajko moved to 11-4 on the season with 4.1 innings of relief, allowing just one run on one hit and striking out six.
- Senior Kyra Chan snapped a 10-game hitting streak with an 0-for-3 night.