On Friday, No. 22 Stanford softball continued their hot start to the season with a dominating 12-1 win over UC Davis (5 innings) and an 8-0 win over UC Riverside (6 innings) in the Cardinal Classic at Stanford Stadium. Stanford improves to 6-0 on the season.
BOX SCORE: UC Davis at Stanford-Friday, February 14th
BOX SCORE: UC Riverside at Stanford-Friday, February 14th
“Great day,” Stanford head coach Jessica Allister said after the game. “You know, I thought we had some good outings in the circle. I thought we had some good approaches at the plate up and down the lineup, pinch hitters, too. I thought it was a good day.”
Stanford freshman Zoe Prystazjko (2-0) was the winning pitcher against Davis, pitching the final 2.1 innings after Kylie Chung got the start. Prystazjko struck out two batters, gave up one hit, and zero earned runs. In the win over Riverside, Prystazjko got the start, but it was Alyssa Houston (2-0) who got the win in relief, striking out six batters and allowing just one hit in 3.0 innings pitched.
“I think that, honestly my goal, when I’m out there is just to get my teammates back into the dugout really quick because I feel like our bats are really really hot recently and really like, we’ve been doing so well offensively,” Houston said of her performance. “So I don’t want to have them out there getting cold on their bats when I could do my job in the circle and get us in and out as quick as possible and get us back in the dugout.
“I think that I have been really focused on getting my pitching performance over and I think Toolie does a really good job helping me with that and just mindset. It’s not even focusing about what I’m doing on both sides of the in, it’s we’re just focusing on my mindset while I’m doing these activities. I think that’s just a part of the game that people don’t really focus on and I think confidence is everything and I’ve really gained my confidence this year.”
The top offensive player for the Cardinal against UC Davis was Taryn Kern, who hit a three-run home run and added an RBI by getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, giving her four RBIs for the game. The top offensive player for the Cardinal against UC Riverside was Sydney Boulaphinh, who hit a two-run walk-off home run to end the game in the 6th inning. The second of her young career.
“I don’t know, I’m just going up there and thinking to do damage every time and just focusing on the ball to bat,” Boulaphinh said of her home run. “That’s all I’m trying to do…I think it’s just knowing that they don’t know who we are yet as freshmen coming in, so we just go in with no pressure, no expectations, and just do what we know what to do the best.”
“Syd is a big-time hitter,” Allister said of Boulaphinh. “She’s gonna have a great offensive career here, a great career in general here. So, taking advantage of her opportunities and putting a good swing on a good pitch.”
“Man, let me just say this, the freshmen class is just doing a wonderful job,” Houston echoed. “I think that they’re adjusting really well and honestly, I think anyone on this team could say, our bats are hot and we’re doing really good and I’m really happy for everybody and I think everyone on this team is happy for for everybody who gets an opportunity to swing that bat and just do some damage honestly.”
Stanford was dominant all the way through in both games. The offense/defense combination is what’s exciting for Stanford. They had five different players hit home runs: Taryn Kern, Sydney Boulaphinh, Joie Economides, River Mahler, and Ava Gall. And then there were others who didn’t hit home runs that got going offensively as well like Emily Jones, who had five hits for three RBIs across both games. So just up and down the lineup, there was a lot of good offense happening.
“I mean, that’s the goal, right?” Allister said of having a well-rounded offense. “When you can score up and down the lineup, you got a chance to score offense. I think we’re absolutely getting good at-bats from up and down and ‘well-rounded’ is probably a good word.”
“Oh my gosh, I literally love it,” Houston said of having a great offense behind her. “I’m losing my voice because I literally am cheering so loud because I’m like, yes, this is so much like, I think that it is so wonderful to have so much depth and just so much power of hitting and people are just on fire right now and I really love to see how these people are just blossoming and growing and looking at our freshman class who are really growing and just like our returners and everything and everyone’s just hitting really well when I feel like we’re just such in a good mindset offensively and just really, it’s been helping pitching-wise.”
“I feel like starting with Taryn at the top and then EJ [Emily Jones], I feel like they do a really good job of being leaders in the top of the lineup and just carrying that same energy throughout the lineup,” Boulaphinh said. “Even if the person before us doesn’t get a hit, they’re still helping us, the rest of the team to their next at-bats, too.”
And then the pitching was excellent. Giving up only one run across both games speaks to the depth of the Cardinal’s pitching staff. Chung, Prystazjko, and Houston are all pitching great, forming a nice trio in the pitcher’s circle.
“I thought as a staff we did well,” Allister said of the pitching. “I thought Zoe came in the first game and shut it down, which was awesome and then gave us a great clean start and then Alyssa continues to throw really well for us. And I also think Kylie really battled today. You know? Not her best outing, tough outing, but like, she battled and she got us back in the dugout and gave us a chance to win a ball game.
“[Allie Clements] She has been fantastic [at catcher]. When you talk about the start to the season and the things that, you’re not gonna say, ‘surprised’ is the wrong word, but like happy about, you know, she’s doing a good job back there and just shutting things down. Doing a really good job receiving the ball, throwing out runners, just playing a great position.”
“I think we’re an awesome unit,” Houston said. “Just because we’re the triad honestly. I think that no matter what we face, I think we always have each other’s back. Like, it doesn’t matter who you pitch, like, you’re gonna have troubles. You’re gonna have troubles because if that pitcher doesn’t get you and we’re having an off-day there’s always another pitcher that’s going to pick us up and it doesn’t matter if you’re struggling on the mound. I feel like in the game before, Kylie was struggling and Zoe was there to pick her up and just really help her and I just think that’s how strong and close-knit we are. I think we’re really close even off the field in that kind of aspect.”
For Stanford, they’ve gotten off to as good of a start as they could hope to have had. They’re hitting and pitching at a high level and are getting good contributions from multiple spots in their lineup.
Up next for Stanford will be two more games of the Cardinal Classic on Saturday. They’ll face UC Riverside at 3:30 PM PT and then Portland State at 6:00 PM PT.
“It’s early, you know, it’s just Friday,” Allister said. “So, lots more games and it’s hard to beat good teams twice. It’s hard to turn around and play two more games in a short amount of time. So, we’re need to show up ready tomorrow.”
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