On Friday, #10 Stanford softball defeated Cal 2-1 (eight innings) to win the first game of their three-game series on The Farm. Stanford senior Alana Vawter (15-5) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while Cal junior Haylei Archer (9-6) was the losing pitcher for the Golden Bears in a starting role. Stanford improves to 33-9 overall and 9-7 in the Pac-12 while Cal falls to 29-13-1 overall and 6-9-1 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Cal at Stanford, Friday April 21st
“It was awesome,” Stanford head coach Jessica Allister said after the game. “It’s awesome because like I told them out in the huddle like the best part about it was there were a number of times we could have scored runs and we’re just hitting balls right at them and we couldn’t find holes. I think often when that happens, it’s easy to kinda start to get frustrated and shut down a little bit, but I thought we stuck with it and continued to put together good at-bats and eventually it broke through.
“So, I’m just incredibly proud of the resilience of our offense and then our pitching was phenomenal. NiJaree absolutely unbelievable on the mound and AV coming in and shutting it down. So, it’s a great win.”
Stanford freshman NiJaree Canady was the starting pitcher for the Cardinal in this game and really pitched a fantastic game, pitching 7.1 innings and giving up just two hits and one run, which was earned. While she wasn’t credited with the win, she was absolutely fantastic, totaling eight strikeouts.
“She’s a professional,” Allister said of Canady. “Like her approach in the bullpen is beyond her years. You don’t often see freshmen that are so in tuned to exactly what they want to do and have a clear plan and work very well at executing it and she’s been a pleasure to work with in the bullpen. Her and Coach Nyberg, every time they get to throw they get better. There’s no wasted bullpens and she’s just like I said it, her approach isn’t like a nineteen year-old.”
“NiJaree’s crazy,” Kaneshiro added. “I love NiJaree so much. She’s a really good teammate, really good person. But when she’s on the mound, she is just a whole other level and it’s been an honor and a privilege to catch her and to get to know her and she feeds off my energy, I feed off hers. So it is always fun catching her for sure.”
The first run of the game came in the bottom of the 5th inning when Stanford took a 1-0 lead. Emily Schultz got walked in the opening at-bat of the inning after which Sydney Steele advanced to first base thanks to a Cal fielding error while Schultz advanced to second base. Allison Morikawa then struck out for the first out.
Up next to the plate would be Taylor Gindlesperger, who reached on a fielder’s choice while Steele advanced to second base and Schultz was out at third base. With two outs, it looked like Stanford might once again fail to score, but River Mahler hit a clutch single to left center and advanced to second base on the throw, bringing home Steele and advancing Gindlesperger to third base. Emily Young then fouled out to right field to end the inning.
Cal then responded with a run of their own in the top of the 6th. With two outs, Kennedy Thomas singled down the left field line after which Tatum Anzaldo doubled to right center to bring home Thomas. Acacia Anders then struck out swinging to end the top of the inning for the Bears. It was now a 1-1 game as Cal had some newfound life and momentum.
Neither team scored in the 7th inning, sending the game into extra innings. In the top of the 8th inning, Canady got Hope Alley out with a ground out for the first out after which she was pulled and replaced in the circle by Vawter. Vawter just needed to get two outs to end the 8th inning with nobody on base. Vawter did her job as she got the next two batters out as D’Asha Saiki grounded out to her after which Kennedy Thomas grounded out to second base. It was still a 1-1 game entering the bottom of the 8th.
“We’re lucky to have two of the best pitchers in the country,” Allister said when asked about her decision to make the pitching change. “And they’re very very opposite. And it’s really hard to adjust from one to the next and I think one of the strengths that’s going to be important for us to continue to capitalize on as the season goes on and the offense gets stronger and stronger throughout this conference then the post season is make them have both looks. And there’s not many hitters that can go from NiJaree to AV and be successful.”
In the bottom of the 8th, Stanford found a way to get the run they needed to win. Mahler singled to second base after which Young popped up to second base. Aly Kaneshiro then reached first base on a fielder’s choice while Mahler was out at second base. With two outs, Allie Clements came in to pinch hit for Dani Hayes and hit the game-winning walk-off single, advancing to second base on the throw while Kaneshiro rounded third base and was safe at home plate.
“Yeah, you want to make them make a play,” Allister said when asked if she was waiving Kaneshiro the whole way. “We had a little bit of an at’em all day. Squaring up balls, going right at people and just struggling to find a hole. So that might make the defense make a play and Biggie had a great slide. So, it was awesome.”
“I figured it would be close,” Kaneshiro said. “But, I just kinda trust Coach Allister and I know that she’ll send me if she thinks that we have a chance and so I figured it was going to be close, but I knew that I was going no matter what.
“I think in the middle of the game, extra innings, we have a big hit up, like Allie Clements and she did awesome. I’m super proud of her. So I think when something happens like that and you know that you really want to score, it just kicks into another gear and like you just go automatically. So, yeah.”
Initially, Kaneshiro was ruled out at home plate, but Allister pleaded her case to the umpire, asked for a review, got the review, and upon review it was ruled that Kaneshiro was safe. Ball game.
“Nothing,” Allister admitted when asked what she saw to prompt the challenge. “Just bang bang. It’s hard to get those things right and I think in that moment, you give it a shot. Being honest, I thought maybe she was out right away. Probably missed the tag. But, they used replay and it worked out.”
“I had a good feeling,” Kaneshiro said. “I mean, you never know in the heat of the moment when it’s like so fast, but I had a good feeling. I was just hoping and wishing and praying for something good. So, yeah."
For Stanford, this is a big-time win. They had rough road trip to Utah and so to bounce back like they did in this one is really nice. Cal is a quality team and Stanford knew with this being a rivalry it was going to be tough. To get the first win of the series is huge.
“Oh absolutely, it always feels good to beat Cal,” Allister said. “And we’ve played that team a lot. And we’ve watched them play a lot and we know that they’re going to show up and they’re going to play hard every single time that we get them and they should be ranked. Like, it’s nonsense that they’re not. The only reason they’re not ranked is because they weren’t ranked last year and it takes a second for the national media to kind of catch up on things. That’s a good ball club they should be ranked.”
“I think it’s like the best feeling ever,” Kaneshiro echoed. “Stuff like this. This is why we play for like games like these where heat of the moment, big innings, big games, big hits, and just like so much fun. This is why we do what we do. And I’m just so proud of this team.”
As for game two, that will be on Saturday at 2:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Los Angeles. Stanford will go for the series win and set up a chance for a sweep on Sunday.
“We’re gonna need to string together good at-bats,” Allister said of Saturday’s matchup. “And put aggressive swings on good pitches and if you can have continuous offensive pressure, eventually you break through. But, gotta pick up the ball, gotta pound the zone, and string together good at-bats.”
“I think that while this win was exciting and great and we need to feel good about it tonight, I think we just need to make sure we come back focused and ready to go tomorrow,” Kaneshiro added. “I think it was pretty obvious that this was a really close matchup and that it’s going to be some really competitive softball and we need to come in tomorrow really ready to compete and dig in.”
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