After a strong series against California to open its Pac-10 season, the No. 8 Stanford softball team traveled to Corvallis, Ore. for its first road game since spring break. Against Oregon State, the Cardinal (30-6, 4-2 Pac-10) was able to win the series by taking games on Friday and Saturday. However, the Beavers (21-18, 2-4) avoided the sweep by winning the final game of the series on Sunday.
Once again, the Cardinal looked to ride the pitching of freshman Teagan Gerhart to victory. Gerhart started all three games of the series, pitching a total of 19.2 innings over three days.
In the first game of the series, Stanford built a four-run lead in the fourth and fifth innings off Oregon State pitcher Paige Hall. In the fourth inning, the Card was able to score due to two fielding errors, both committed by Beaver shortstop Nikki Chandler. Though Stanford left two runners on base, sophomore second baseman Ashley Hansen and freshman shortstop Jenna Rich scored in the inning.
In the fifth inning, Stanford added two more runs to its lead with three hits in the inning.
However, Oregon State refused to go down easily and attempted to mount a comeback in the sixth inning. The Beavers hit two home runs off Gerhart – a two-run shot by designated player Audrey Roderfeld and a solo homer by first baseman Ally Kutz.
Unfortunately for Oregon State, it was not enough to close the gap – the Beavers were only able to amass three runs. The game ended with a final score of 4-3.
Saturday’s game was equally close, decided by a margin of one run. The game was a classic pitcher’s duel, pitting Gerhart against Hall for the second straight contest.
Gerhart allowed only three hits in seven innings while striking out five, while Hall allowed five hits and garnered three strikeouts.
At the end, Gerhart outlasted Hall once again, as the Stanford offense eked out a run in the fifth inning. Fielding lapses hurt the Beavers, as an error allowed Stanford to score its only run, which went into the books as unearned. The final score of the game was a close 1-0.
After two low-scoring contests, the third game was markedly different. The two teams combined for 18 runs, with Oregon State taking the game 10-8 on the back of a huge six-run rally in the fifth inning off the pitching of Gerhart and Rich.
In the final game of the series, the Beaver offense finally figured out how to get hits off the previously invincible Gerhart. In 5.2 innings, she gave up 10 hits and seven runs, all earned. In 0.1 innings, Rich was also unable to staunch Oregon State’s offense, giving up three runs on three hits.
After delivering eight runs of support through the first five innings, the Cardinal offense found itself unable to close the gap with the Beavers. Hall shut it out in the final two innings to preserve the win for the Beavers.
Senior catcher Rosey Neill was the offensive star for Stanford – she had two hits and four RBIs in three at-bats. Sophomore right fielder Maya Burns was also a big contributor, going 1-3 with two RBIs.
The Cardinal will continue Pac-10 competition next weekend against No. 3 Arizona. The Wildcats (32-7, 2-4) were recently swept by Washington, the No. 1 team in the nation.