Following a close 7-5 loss on Friday, No. 17 Stanford softball bounced back against No. 20 Clemson on Saturday as they won 11-1 in five innings to tie up the series. Alyssa Houston (8-1) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a starting role, pitching all 5.0 innings. Emily Jones (1 RBI), Taryn Kern (2 RBI), & Kyra Chan (4 RBI) each hit home runs for the Cardinal. Brooke McCubbin (7-5) was the losing pitcher for the Tigers in a starting role. Stanford improves to 26-7 overall and 9-5 in the ACC while Clemson falls to 29-11 overall and 10-4 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Clemson at Stanford-Saturday, April 5th
“Oh man, it’s huge. It’s just huge,” Stanford head coach Jessica Allister said after the game. “One, I’m really proud of them. I think when you think about game last night and you think about the grind that was Wednesday night and you think about the three games at Virginia Tech where you just feel like you could win them all and you end up on the other side, it’s good to get back in the win column. And I’m proud of our resilience, I’m proud of our toughness, I’m proud of Alyssa Houston out on the mound, and I just thought it was a really good bounce back game and we needed it.”
In the top of the 1st inning, Alyssa Houston got off to a rough start in the pitcher’s circle as she walked the first two batters she faced. She then struck out the next two batters before walking Aby Vieira to load up the bases. Marian Collins then hit a single to right field to bring home Alex Brown, who was on third base. Houston then got a strike out to end the top of the inning, keeping it at 1-0.
In the bottom of the 1st inning, Emily Jones singled with one out and then stole second base with River Mahler at the plate. Mahler then singled to advance Jones to third base. Jade Berry then but the ball in play and advanced to first base thanks to an error while Mahler advanced to second base and Jones scored. Joie Economides then reached on a fielder’s choice as Berry advanced to second base and Mahler was out at third base. Kyra Chan then came up to the plate and homered, bringing home Economides and Berry. Stanford wouldn’t score any more runs the rest of the inning, making it a 4-1 lead at the end of the 1st inning.
“Yeah Kyra, I mean, today, she’s been on a streak,” Allister said of Chan. “You know, I got the last ten game stats and she’s on a freaking tear right now and another big day. So it’s nice. Like I said earlier, we can score up and down the lineup and Kyra is a big piece of that.”
“She’s just super clutch,” Kern said of Chan. “I mean, I look up to her, like I think in the big moments you want the freaking bat in Kyra Chan’s hands. She just knows how to get it done in there and just pick us up and she’s just an awesome addition to our team.”
In the top of the 2nd inning, Houston walked two straight batters again. The third batter she faced (Alex Brown) grounded out, but advanced both runners to second and third base. However, Houston would get back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning, keeping it at 4-1. In the bottom of the 2nd, Kylie Chung got walked after which Taryn Kern hit a home run to right center to bring Chung home. That made it 6-1. Emily Jones then homered to right field to make it 7-1.
That ended McCubbin’s day in the pitching circle. Macey Cintron then came in to pitch and didn’t give up a run, doing a much better job.
“Felt great,” Kern said of her home run. “I was just, I hadn’t really swung much in my first at bat or yesterday, so I was just like telling myself to see good pitch and to swing and did it.”
The 3rd inning was pretty uneventful as neither team scored. A. runner did get on base for Clemson in the top of the 3rd, but it was due to an error, so not on Houston. But aside from that, nobody got on base and then in the bottom of the 3rd, nobody got on base for the Cardinal as Cintron was dialed in.
In the top of the 4th, Houston got three straight batters out as she was starting to find her groove. As for the bottom of the 4th, Stanford added four more runs to lead 11-1. Chung got on base thanks to an error, Kern singled to advance Chung to second base. Jones then hit a but single to load up the bases. With the bases loaded, Mahler then hit a single and advanced to second base thanks to an error. As a result, Kern and Chung both scored while Jones advanced to third base. Berry then flied out to bring home Jones after which Chan grounded out to bring home Mahler.
“Well, we made them pay, right?” Allister said of their offense. “So they made a couple mistakes in that first inning and then Kyra Chan makes them pay. And then continuing to pour it on, you know, chasing three pitchers is pretty good. But I thought we were aggressive. I think we got off our best swings. We scored up and down the lineup, so I think, I don’t know, I think our offense is capable of putting up a lot of runs. They had a good day today.”
Up 11-1 at the end of the 4th inning, Stanford needed to get three more outs in the top of the 5th inning to win via run rule and they did just that. Houston secured a strike out, ground out, and fly out. As a result, Stanford walked out with a 10-run victory.
“Just believing in myself kind of in a way and just like having my just team being there and just Coach Allister, Coach O’Toole, just believing in me and just being confident in me, like to get out of situations and that just gradually made me more confident in myself," Houston said. "And I think just reverting back to what I know how to do and I could do pitching in my sleep. Why do I stress out when I’m out there? Just give my team the best opportunity to win and I think I did that today.”
“I’m so proud of her,” Allister said of Houston. “And again, like, it’s hard when it’s hard. It’s easy when it’s easy. And you know, it’s been a little bit hard for her and you know going out there and working through it in the first inning and limiting them to one run and then coming out, working through it in the second, and then kind of finding her groove and putting up a ton of zeros in a row there. I think she’s going to take a lot out of that and I’m just really proud of her perseverance.”
For Stanford, this is a nice bounce back win. Clemson is a ranked opponent and has been playing well. To win so comfortably and dominate them has to feel good. All things were clicking for the Cardinal in this one from their hitting to their pitching. Just an all-around good day.
“I just think that we came in today and just, we were ready,” Houston said. “We were ready to play and I think we all believed in each other and we knew what were capable of. And I think yesterday we might have been a little off and today we were like full force today and it just shows. Like, we were very like, when we’re confident and we’re like believing in each other, like, I don’t think there’s any team that can really stop us.
“I feel like my job for this team is and I’ve really embodied this. Like, give my team the best chance to win and whatever that looks like for the day, just step into that and be confident in that. If that’s strike outs and pop ups, it’s strike outs and pop ups. If it’s ground outs, if it’s keep the ball in the park, if it’s all those different things, just be okay in that and fight in that kind of role.”
“Coach Allister was just talking about yeah, bouncing back and be able to get punched and you know, fall down and get back up,” Kern said. “And that’s like the nature of this game. That’s what we signed up for is the hard and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. So just coming back as a team and having each other’s backs…Just coming back and showing them who were are and that we’re not done yet. And we’re ready to kick their ass tomorrow, too.”
Up next for Stanford is a game on Sunday with the series on the line now that it’s tied 1-1. That will be at 12:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
“You know, I think we’re going to get Basinger again,” Allister said looking ahead to Sunday. “The pitcher from Friday night, I’m sure she’s going to be back in the circle. And she does a good job of kind of living in the shadow zones and limiting the number of pitches to get over the plate and when we get them we gotta be ready to hit them.”
“Just coming out here with the same kind of energy and just being in the fight,” Houston added. “Whatever fight we’re in, just keep being in it and just keep growing and growing and growing and fighting and fighting. And I think that’s how we win tomorrow.”
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