On Saturday, #6 Stanford softball defeated Oregon State 10-2 in their second consecutive game that was called after five innings of play. Stanford junior pitcher Regan Krause (6-2) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal pitching all 5.0 innings while giving up just one earned run. Ellie Garcia (2-5) was the losing pitcher for the Beavers, giving up six earned runs in 3.0 innings. Stanford improves to 26-3 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12 while Oregon State falls to 10-17 overall and 1-4 in the Pac-12.
BOX SCORE: Oregon State at Stanford-Saturday, March 25th
“Yeah, it’s a good win,” Stanford head coach Jessica Allister said after the game. “A really good win. Come out and take our second Pac-12 series you know, that’s a good day. And I thought we did a good job of scoring early, scoring often, answering back, offensive pressure, and really capitalizing the first. So for Regan to go out and put up a clean one-two-three inning and then come out and score three runs, can’t ask for much more in the first inning.”
In the top of the 1st inning, Krause made quick work of the Beavers’ lineup as nobody got on base. Abby Doerr struck out swinging after which Grace Messmer popped up to short stop while Frankie Hammoude fouled out to short stop.
In the bottom of the 1st, Stanford’s offense went to work. With one out, River Mahler got walked after which Aly Kaneshiro was walked as well. Caelan Koch then doubled up the middle to bring home Mahler and advance Kaneshiro to third. Then, Garcia threw a wild pitch, bringing home Kaneshiro and advancing Koch to third. Kaitlyn Lim then hit an RBI to bring home Koch, ruled advancing via fielder’s choice.
“Yeah, because then the pitchers can just fill the zone,” Allister said of getting those three runs in the first inning. “When you can pitch with a lead, you can just go right at the hitters. And that’s a good space to be as a pitcher.”
“Yeah, that was awesome,” Koch added. “The team did a great job getting on base and just getting some nice hits in. And I just felt really confident going up to the plate knowing that they had squared up the pitcher before and I knew I could do it as well.”
Emily Young then got hit by a pitch to advance Lim to second base. It looked like the Cardinal might add even more runs. However, Emily Schultz struck out swinging after which Lim was out at third during Kyra Chan‘s at-bat. 3-0 lead for the Cardinal at the end of the 1st.
“Yeah, that was awesome,” Krause said of the early run support. “It’s wonderful when we score early because then I feel like it takes a lot of pressure off the defense and I think our offense is doing fantastic right now, which is awesome.”
In the top of the 2nd, Oregon State struck back by getting on the board. Kaiea Higa got hit by a pitch after which Morgan Howey reached first base via fielder’s choice as pinch runner Jade Soto was out at second. Harleigh Braswell then singled to left field to advance Howey to second base after which Des Rivera struck out swinging. Eliana Gottlieb then got walked to load up the bases. Madyson Clark then singled through the right side to advance all runners, bringing home Howey. Doerr then grounded to the pitcher to end the top of the inning. 3-1 game.
The bottom of the 2nd inning was uneventful as Kyra Chan, Sydney Steele, and Taylor Gindlesperger all failed keep the inning going. Gindlesperger actually hit a double with two outs but went for a triple and was out at third, ending the inning.
In the top of the 3rd, Krause continued to do work in the circle as Messmer, Hammoude, and Higa all failed to get on base. Messmer and Higa both grounded out to short stop while Hammoude flied out to right field.
“I thought she was tough, not perfect,” Alister said of Krause. “Which is all we can ever ask. On the days where you’re doing well that you’re battling a little bit and it feels a little bit harder, that’s when you find out who you really are and I thought she made some big pitches and big outs. And did a great job out there.”
“You know, I wouldn’t say today was one of my best days,” Krause admitted. “But, I just battled through things. I didn’t think I had my A-game all the time, but just got the job done.”
In the bottom of the 3rd, Stanford’s offense really exploded, scoring five runs. Mahler and Kaneshiro hit back-to-back singles after which Koch hit a homer to right center, making it a 6-1 lead for the Cardinal.
“Basically what I was trying to focus on was just like flowing through my swing,” Koch said of her homer. “I’ve been kinda mechanical lately. And I think just overthinking it a bit. So, honestly I was just looking for something that was on the plate and that I could get my hands out on and just go through it…It was really cool. The wind helped it out a bit. So I was like thank you, wind!”
“Absolutely, Caelan was great,” Allister said of Koch. “She’s been just a little snake-bit. She’s hitting some balls on the screws that are going right at people, some people making good plays on her, and she hasn’t panicked. She’s just stayed within her process, put a good swing on a good pitch, and she got rewarded today.”
Then, Lim singled through the left side after which Young struck out swinging for the first out. Schultz then got contact with the ball and advanced to second base thanks to a fielding error while Lim advanced to third. Chan then popped up to short stop before Steele got hit by a pitch to load up the bases and keep the inning alive. Gindlesperger then got hit by a pitch to bring home Lim after which a wild pitch from Garcia during Mahler’s at-bat advanced all runners on base, bringing home Schultz. Mahler then popped up to second base. 8-1 lead for the Cardinal.
From there, Stanford would go on to win 10-2. In the top of the 4th inning, Clark reached on a fielding error to advance Gottlieb to third base and bring home Rivera who was on third base, giving the Beavers their second run of the game. In the bottom of the 4th with one out, Lim hit a double to left center to bring home Ellee Eck right before Young singled up the middle to bring home Lim, giving the Cardinal their ninth and 10th runs. In the top of the 5th, Krause clinched the game for the Cardinal by forcing three straight ground outs.
For Stanford, this was their second straight dominant victory over Oregon State, giving themselves a 2-0 series lead. The hitting was fantastic, the pitching while not perfect was good enough, and all in all, this day went about as well as they could hope. The bottom of the 3rd inning was where the game really was won. Koch’s homer gave the Cardinal a tremendous boost and it was smooth sailing from there.
“Well absolutely, hitting is contagious,” Allister echoed. “And hitting confidence is contagious. So, I thought it was a big day. And I thought again, we scored up and down the lineup, which is awesome, Lim starting to get going a little bit offensively, too. Which is great. Young continuing to put together a really good stretch here. So yeah, it was a good day.”
“I think it’s just like when you get a hit and you get so pumped when you get on base, it just carries over into the dugout,” Koch added. “We also try to tell each other what we’re seeing and just try to help each other out as much as possible and bringing each other confidence, which is what I think we did all game.”
While Allister has downplayed the impact of finals week, the team certainly is playing like a team that is happy to have finals over. Krause said it’s nice to have some time to just focus on softball.
“Oh yeah, MS&E 121 Stochastic Modeling,” Krause said of which final she was most happy to have done. “That a lot of big words right there. It was a tough class, so I’m just happy to be done and have like a week and a half to just play softball, which is awesome. Because you don’t always get that here when you have finals going until June. So, I’m going to savor it. I don’t really know what to do with myself when I don’t have schoolwork to do, but it’s awesome. I’m not complaining.”
Up next for the Cardinal is game three of the series as they look to sweep the Beavers. That will begin on Sunday at 12:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area.
“Yeah, I told them just in the huddle that Oregon State program is a proud program,” Allister said of Sunday’s matchup. “And they aren’t going to show up tomorrow and just roll over. They’re going to show up ready and we need to make sure that we show up ready, too.”
“I think just getting some good sleep, eating well tonight, and just showing up with the same mentality that we did today,” Koch added. “Well, Jimmy V’s. We always go to Jimmy V’s before pre-game. So, we have like chicken, pasta, veggies, the whole works. But yeah, that’s pretty much it for me. No coffee for me. That’s a staple for some of my teammates, but yeah.”
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
