CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 14 Stanford is through to the ACC Championship semifinal. The Cardinal beat No. 25 Louisville 6-5 in eight innings today, setting up a semifinal bout with No. 8 Florida State tomorrow. River Mahler came through with the game-winning swing, bringing in Sophia Jin with a sacrifice fly to close the game and move to 37-12 on the season.
Louisville opened the scoring in the top of the first, hitting a two-run homer to take the lead. Stanford answered back in a hurry in the bottom of the first.
Kyra Chan and Taryn Kern led off the inning with back-to-back doubles, putting the Card on the board at 2-1. Three more runs came in to score in the inning, with Kern crossing home on a single from Ava Gall to tie it at 2-2. Joie Economides brought in the next two on a single, scoring Jade Berry from second. Emily Jones scored from first thanks to the single and a Louisville throwing error.
Alyssa Houston took over for Anna Brewer in the circle to start the second, inheriting a 4-2 lead after the first inning of play.
The Cardinals struck for two more in the top of the third, tying the game with a pair of solo shots to level it at 4-4.
Stanford again was able to answer, retaking the lead in the bottom of the third. Economides, Addyson Sheppard drew back-to-back two out walks to load the bases, then Sydney Boulaphinh drew another to bring in a run.
The 5-4 lead held, thanks to a sharp relief outing from Zoe Prystajko. Since stepping into the circle in the third, allowing just one hit across the next three innings to take the lead into the seventh inning.
Louisville pushed a run across in the seventh to tie the game and send it to extras, but the Cardinal rallied quickly in the eighth. Boulaphinh and Chan each singled, before the Cardinals walked Kern to load the bases.
Mahler stepped into the box and drove a ball into centerfield, driving in the winning run on a sacrifice fly.
Prystajko finished with the win in the circle, tossing 5.1 innings and allowing just one earned run on three hits. The win put Prystajko at 20-5 on the season, leading the Cardinal staff.
Stanford advances to the ACC Championship semifinal, taking on No. 1-seeded Florida State. The semifinal matchup is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. PT, and will be broadcast on ACC Network.
POSTGAME NOTES:
- Stanford has now won 15-straight games, the longest winning streak in the ACC and second-longest in the NCAA.
- The Card moves to 9-6 on the season against ranked opponents.
- The Cardinal advances to the ACC Semifinal for the first time in program history.
- Senior Taryn Kern finished the game with three walks, putting her just three free passes away from matching the program’s career-best mark of 139.
- Sophomore Zoe Prystajko picked up her 20th win of the season in the circle.
- Junior Jade Berry picked up a hit to extend her hitting streak to seven games.