Over the course of the weekend, Stanford softball (16-19, 0-9 Pac-12) went winless in its three game series against No. 4 Arizona (40-1, 12-0) in Tuscon. The Cardinal were able to get on the board in two of three games but were ultimately unable to contain the potent Wildcats offense, which resulted in three run-rule wins for Arizona. With the sweep, Stanford remains winless while Arizona stands undefeated in Pac-12 play this season.
Friday’s game produced the most lopsided victory for the Wildcats, as they outscored the Cardinal 20-1 in five innings. Five home runs in a 13-run first inning for Arizona put the game out of reach early. The Wildcats hit a total of seven homers in the game. Arizona tacked on another five runs in the second and two in the bottom of the fourth before Stanford was able to put up any scoring. Although they amassed five hits, the Cardinal did not manage to get more than one runner on the basepaths at a time until the final inning.
Stanford’s sole run came on a deep home run to center field by junior Whitney Burks in the top of the fifth, and while a walk and a single set the table for a late push, the Cardinal were ultimately unable to score another run and the game was called after the top of the fifth inning.
On Saturday, Arizona once again got on the board early, tallying three runs on the team’s first home run of the game. The Wildcats would hit four home runs over the course of the game, scoring nine of their 12 runs on the long ball. While the Cardinal were able to get runners on base, they were unable to come up with timely hits, leaving players on the basepaths in four of the five innings. Arizona shut out Stanford 12-0 in five innings.
Sunday’s game featured the smallest margin of victory for the Wildcats, as they defeated the Cardinal 9-1 to secure the sweep. Arizona remained homer happy, pegging Stanford with another four moonshots, the first of which scored three runners in the bottom of the first inning. The Wildcats added another two in the third on Katiyana Mauga’s second home run of the day, and Arizona hit consecutive homers in the bottom of the fifth inning to end the game via run rule. Stanford’s sole run crossed the plate in the top of the fourth inning on a pair of doubles by seniors Kylie Sorenson and Bessie Noll.
The Cardinal will continue to seek its first conference win when it plays host to Arizona State for a three-game series that begins on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Contact Olivia Hummer at ohummer ‘at’ stanford.edu.