On Sunday, No. 9 Stanford softball defeated No. 7 Washington 1-0 to advance to the semifinals of the Women’s College World Series against No.1 Oklahoma. NiJaree Canady (17-2) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal while Ruby Meylan (18-7) was the losing pitcher for the Huskies.
BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. Washington-Sunday, June 4th
This was as low scoring of a game as you can have since only one run was scored. Stanford scored their lone run in the bottom of the 6th inning. Taylor Gindlesperger singled to second base with no outs and would steal second base and advance to third base on a throwing error with two outs after Emily Young and Aly Kaneshiro failed to advance her. Kylie Chung then singled to left center bring home Gindlesperger for the only run of the game.
This was truly a defensive contest as Washington had only one hit and four runners left on base while Stanford had four hits and four runners left on base. Stanford did have three errors in this game while Washington had one, so in that vein Stanford is a bit lucky things still went their way in the end.
While they didn’t score, Washington did have their chances. In the top of the 1st inning, Baylee Klingler hit a single to left field and would get to second base thanks to a sacrifice bunt. The problem was nobody was able to advance her further.
The other inning where the Huskies had a really good chance to score was the top of the 6th as Klingler reached first base via a throwing error with one out after which Sami Reynolds reached first base on a fielding error, advancing Klingler to second base. Thanks to a fielder’s choice, Reynolds was out at second base but Avery Hobson (Klingler’s pinch runner) got to third base while Madison Huskey got to first base. The next batter would be Kelley Lynch, whose fly ball to center field was the third and final out of the top of the inning.
As has been the case all season long, Canady was fantastic in the circle for the Cardinal. She pitched all 7.0 innings and had nine strikeouts. Her 0.48 ERA is simply crazy. Washington just didn’t have the ability to respond well to her elite pitching and as a result they have been sent packing for the rest of the season.
Up next for Stanford is Monday’s game against Oklahoma, whom they need to beat twice in one day. The first game will be at 9:00 AM PT on ESPN and the second game (if necessary) will be at 11:30 AM (or like 30 minutes to an hour after the conclusion of game one).
Given that they fell to Oklahoma 2-0 earlier on in the World Series has to give Stanford some confidence. They know they can hang with them. It’s just a matter of finishing off the deal.
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