Over the weekend, #5 Stanford softball went undefeated at the DeMarini Invitational, going a combined 4-0 against Villanova and Miami (OH). Against Villanova on Friday and Saturday, Stanford won both games by a finals score of 3-0. Against Miami on Sunday, they won the first game 10-0 and the second game 8-0. Both games were called after five innings via mercy rule.
The top performance in all the games was freshman pitcher/utility NiJaree Canady’s outing against Villanova on Friday: 7.0 innings, 0 hits, and 18 strikeouts. This was her second no-hitter of her career and her 18 strikeouts were one short of the program record. Against Miami on Sunday in their 8-0 victory, Canady pitched all 5.0 innings, gave up just 2 hits, and had 10 strikeouts. As a result of her performance over the weekend, Canady was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week.
As a result of their weekend, Stanford is now 19-2 overall, having won 17 straight games. D1Softball.com now has them ranked #5 in the country. The pitching has really been phenomenal during this stretch and is a major reason why they’re off to such a hot start.
The game that I was able to cover in person was the 3-0 victory on Saturday against Villanova and so I will be recapping that game.
BOX SCORE: Villanova at Stanford-Saturday, March 4th
Stanford junior pitcher Regan Krause (4-1) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal while Peyton Schnackenberg (3-5) was the losing pitcher for the Wildcats. Stanford graduate student outfielder/first baseman Emily Schultz was the top offensive performer for the Cardinal going 1-for-3 at the plate for 1 RBI and 2 runs scored.
“Yeah, it’s a good win,” Stanford head coach Jessica Allister said after the game. “You know, it’s a crazy day. We showed up I think for our pregame meal at 11:30 and we didn’t play until 7. So, it was quite the day of sitting around waiting, but I’m proud of the way the team came out. I thought Regan set a great tone on the mound and getting a W against a good Villanova team.”
The first thing to know about this game is that this game got off to a late start due to the Cal/Miami game going into extra innings. Cal participated in the event but did not play Stanford. Cal won 12-11 in a wild eight inning game that featured multiple lead changes, mound visits, etc. People who were watching it were commenting that they had never seen a softball game like this. It was like witnessing a shooting star or he birth of a baby panda. Just not the kind of game you see every day at the ballpark.
“I think you do all of those things,” Allister said when asked about how to keep her team loose amid a long wait. “You make sure they get enough food, haha. So you feed them! But no, you warm up a couple different times. Pay attention to the game in front of you because we’re gonna play that Miami team tomorrow and want to make sure we pick up everything that we can. But, each player needs something a little bit different and they know what they need and they do a pretty good job of getting it.”
Stanford and Villanova ended up starting play at 7:00 PM PT as opposed to like 5:00 or so. The delay was not something they were planning on and both teams had to adjust.
“That was crazy,” Krause said of the delay. “I think I…we were just hanging out in the cages, having fun and then once gametime came, just being absolutely locked in. Ready to go.”
“I think Coach Allister has done a really good job of making sure we’re focused in between games and before the games,” Schultz added. “And we did a really good job of that. But also just keeping it loose, keeping it fun, we were playing games in the cages, just kinda having fun watching the game. So, I just think staying loose and having a good time. And knowing that as soon as we stepped on the field it was game time and we were ready to go.”
When play did finally start, Krause hit the ground running for the Cardinal striking out the first three batters she faced: the first batter struck out looking while the next two batters grounded out to third base and short stop.
In the bottom of the 1st inning, Stanford got off to a promising start at the plate as Taylor Gindlesperger singled to short stop after which she stole second during River Mahler’s at-bat. Mahler then reached first base on a throwing error while Gindlesperger advanced to third base. Mahler then stole second base. The Cardinal looked likely to score. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, the next three batters all failed to get on base, leaving both Gindlesperger and Mahler stranded. It was still 0-0 at the end of the 1st inning.
“River is insane,” Schultz said of Mahler. “She first of all is a great energy, great teammate. Super fun. I love playing out there on the field with her. She brings a lot to the dugout and I think offensively she’s just one of a kind. She puts a bat on the ball, she finds a way on base, and just a great all-around player.”
In the top of the 2nd inning, Villanova hoped to get things going on offense. Chloe Smith got hit by a pitch with one out after which Ryan Henry grounded out to second base while Smith advanced to second. After Ava Franz was walked, Schnackenberg grounded out to Krause on the mound to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd, Shultz reached first base on a fielding error after which Allie Clements hit a single to right field and advanced to second base on a throwing error while Schultz came home. The next two Stanford batters failed to get on base as Emily Young lined out to short stop after which Gindlesperger grounded out to short stop. 1-0 lead for Stanford at the end of the 2nd.
In the top of the 3rd inning, Krause once again went to work on the mound for the Cardinal. Aside from giving up a lead-off single, she got the next three batters out via strike out looking, strike out swinging, and ground out.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Stanford was unable to add to their lead. Caelan Koch reached on a fielding error with two outs and was advanced to second base after Kaitlyn Lim singled up the middle. Emily Jones then struck out swinging to end the bottom of the inning. Still a 1-0 game.
In the top of the 4th, things got off to a bit of a rocky start for Krause as she hit Lilly St. Jean to put her on base with no outs. But then, Krause dialed in and got the next three batters out via ground out, ground out, and strike out swinging.
“Yeah, we knew going into the game we could jam a lot of them,” Krause said of the Villanova batters. “And I think we stuck with that and it worked well.”
In the bottom of the 4th, Stanford was able to add to their lead. Schultz got things going with a double down the left field line. Clements then flied out to center field for the first out. Up next would be Young, who singled to right field, bringing home Schultz. Gindlesperger then grounded out to short stop, advancing Young to second base, but then Mahler grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning. 2-0 Stanford lead at the end of the 4th inning.
In the top of the 5th inning, Krause got three straight outs as Villanova just couldn’t get anything going offensively. It was tough night for the Wildcats’ bats.
In the bottom of the 5th, Aly Kaneshiro hit a single to left field, after which Ellee Eck came in to pinch run. Eck then stole second base after which Kock was hit by a pitch. Lim then singled to third base via bunt, loading up the bases. Jones then reached on a fielder’s choice as Eck was out at home plate. Schultz then grounded out to second base, bringing home Koch and advancing Jones to second base and Lim to third. Clements then grounded out to second base to end the bottom of the inning. 3-0 lead for the Cardinal.
In the top of the 6th, Ally Jones hit a double to left center for the Wildcats with one out after which Maddie Burrows came in to pinch run for Jones. St. Jean would then ground out to third base, advancing Burrows to third base. However, Chloe Smith would strike out looking to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the 6th, Mahler was able to triple to left field with two outs, but Kaneshiro lined out to first base to end the bottom of the inning. Still a 3-0 lead for the Cardinal.
“Well, we’re just leaving them all on base,” Allister said of needing to score more runs. “So we’re not lacking in the hits department, we’re lacking in the runs department. So, we just need a little bit of timely hitting and that’s the game we play. So I told them after the game, I said the good news is we’re getting them on base. The bad news is we’re leaving them on base. But it’s better than not leaving anybody on base.
“So we just need to continue to allow ourselves to get off a good swing with runners on. And I think we got ourselves the right situations with the right hitters up and we got defensive and there’s no reason to be defensive up there. So we need to allow ourselves to take our A-plus swing with runners on and we’re perfectly capable of it. We just need to allow ourselves to perform in that way.”
“Yeah, we talked a little bit today just about having some of those hits with runners in scoring position,” Schultz added. “But the good thing is you know, we’re getting runners on base, we’re having a lot of really solid hits. I think it’s just kinda stringing those hits together one at a time. But, we’re really proud of ourselves for just the way we’re hitting. I think it just kinda comes down to just stringing those together. So, we’ll get it.”
In the top of the 7th, Krause finished strong as she got three straight batters out via strike out swinging, strike out swinging, and a ground out to third base. This clinched a 3-0 win for the Cardinal.
“One pitch at a time,” Krause said of the key to her strong outing. “Knowing my best is better. I don’t think it really changed from day to day. Just going out with the same mentality every time.”
“Regan is, she’s just such a competitor,” Schultz said of Krause. “I think this season she just really has attacked hitters; she’s gone right at them and in big situations she gets us some really big strikeouts and she rolls us a lot of ground balls. So as an infielder, I love it. She allows us to make some good plays behind her, but she’s just a competitor, she goes right at hitters, and I’m very confident in playing behind her.”
For Stanford, this was a solid win. The pitching was excellent and they got enough run support. Emily Schultz really came through with her RBI and two runs scored, having a direct hand in all three of the runs the Cardinal scored. That said, they do know they need to get things going more on offense, something that came through for them on Sunday against Miami in both games.
“Yeah, Schultz is great, but Schultz has been great for a long time now,” Allister said. “She’s stringing together some good games. So, she’s seeing beach balls in there and also I thought it was great with the bases loaded. I’m guessing that strike two when we go back and watch the film is pretty far from the chalk out there and I thought she did a good job of not allowing it to derail her at bat and came back and hard ground ball to right side, scored a run. So that was good.”
“Really good,” Schultz said of her performance. “Offensively just been trying to free it up, have confidence, we’ve been talking about just putting a good swing on a good pitch. So, that’s all I was trying to do and just have good situational at-bats.”
Expanding a bit more on Krause, she really has been excellent all season long. The entire pitching staff has been excellent and she’s just done a great job of figuring out what works for her and keep doing her thing.
“Yeah, I thought she was commanding all parts of the zone,” Allister said of Krause. “So I think she was doing a good job of throwing the ball, her drop ball inside and outside and keeping them honest with her rise ball. So when she can own all four quadrants, she’s tough.”
“Yeah, I like to mix it up,” Krause said of her approach to pitching. “I feel like Coach Nyberg has a good plan for each hitter before the game and I trust her. So, I just do what she tells me to do.
“I think Coach Nyberg does a really good job of just knowing how to beat people and then just trusting that what you throw is better and just going right at them.”
Up next for Stanford is a road trip to the state of Kansas. Up first will be Wichita State on Thursday at 1:00 PM PT. That will proceed a four-game weekend at the Jayhawk Invitational against Central Arkansas and Kansas. Stanford will look to extend their 17 game winning streak even further.
“Yeah, I think when it comes down to it we’re just having fun,” Schultz said of the key to their winning streak. “I think all of us, we love being together in the dugout, we love being on the field, and when you have fun, things are a little bit easier. So, just stringing together those hits and just having a good time.”
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
