In Chinese culture, the number eight is supposed to be a lucky number. For No.9 Stanford softball, being the number nine seed worked out just fine as they went on the road to sweep No.8 Duke in the Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament, advancing to the Women’s College World Series. This is the Cardinal’s first trip to the College World Series since 2004.
On Friday, Stanford defeated Duke 3-1 as freshman sensation NiJaree Canady (16-1) was the winning pitcher as a starter. After giving up a run in the bottom of the 1st inning, Canady was lights out the rest of the way, giving up just four hits for the entire game. After giving up a double in the bottom of the 7th with no outs, Canady got back-to-back strikeouts followed by a ground out to end the game.
As for Stanford’s offense, they only had three hits, but that was all they needed to score three runs. In the top of the 5th inning, Kaitlyn Lim doubled to left center to bring home Emily Schultz and Emily Young. In the top of the 6th, Aly Kaneshiro doubled through the right side to bring home Ellee Eck for good measure.
On Saturday, Stanford cruised to a dominant 7-2 victory. Duke scored one run in the top of the 1st inning after which Stanford scored two runs in the bottom of the 1st and one run in the bottom of the 2nd. In the top of the 3rd inning, Duke added one more run, making it a 3-2 game.
Stanford’s two runs in the 1st inning were scored thanks to Aly Kaneshiro hitting a single to bring home River Mahler and Emily Young hitting a sac fly to center field to bring home Taylor Gindlesperger. Stanford’s third run in the bottom of the 2nd was scored thanks to Mahler hitting an RBI single to center field to bring home Eck. As for Duke, their run in the top of the 1st was scored thanks to an RBI from Ana Gold. Their run in the top of the 3rd was thanks to a solo homer from Francesca Frelick.
At the end of the 4th inning, it was a 3-2 lead for Stanford as it was shaping up to be a close game. However, Stanford blew the game wide open in the bottom of the 5th inning, scoring four runs to lead 7-2, which would be the final score. Kylie Chung and Sydney Steele each had an RBI in the inning while Dani Hayes hit a two-RBI single up the middle.
As for the pitching, Alana Vawter (20-8) got the win for the Cardinal in a starting role while NiJaree Canady (3) got the save. The pitching as always was sensational. Canady coming in for relief like she did and getting the save is truly amazing. She’s proving herself to not only be the best freshman pitcher in the country, but one of the best pitchers in the country period.
The big difference for Stanford in this Super Regional was their hitting. And the same could be said for their regional performance as well. After the bats being quiet for much of the season, they have found enough life to win behind superb pitching. Stanford is showing that when they just get adequate to ok run support, they truly are close to impossible to beat.
The Women’s College World Series begins on Thursday, June 1st in Oklahoma City. It’ll be fun to see how Stanford does and whether or not they can finish the job with a really talented Oklahoma team as the clear front runners.
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