The Stanford softball team’s season ended on Sunday, as it fell to Louisiana-Lafayette as the Ragin’ Cajuns advanced past the Cardinal and into the NCAA Super Regionals.
The Cardinal started off its double-elimination regional on Friday with a 1-0 win over Baylor thanks to a superb performance from starter Teagan Gerhart. The junior struck out seven to notch her ninth shutout of the year. The win advanced Stanford to take on the other team to win its first game, Louisiana-Lafayette. On Saturday, the host Ragin’ Cajuns jumped out to an early lead and cruised to a 9-3 win to bring Stanford one loss from elimination in the double-elimination regional.
The Cardinal did not have long to worry about this predicament, though, as the team had to take on Baylor that same evening to decide who would go home. Once again, Stanford proved too much for the Bears, winning 6-2 to stay alive. All eight runs were scored in the fifth inning, with the big blow coming off the bat of freshman centerfielder Cassandra Roulund, as she crushed a grand slam over the left-field fence. Gerhart threw her third complete game in two days to keep the Baylor bats quiet once again.
Despite the win, Stanford was still in a tough spot, needing to beat Louisiana-Lafayette twice on Sunday in Lafayette to advance. The Cardinal could not even get the first win, though, falling 6-2 to end its season. Just as they had on Friday, the Ragin’ Cajuns jumped out to an early lead, scoring five runs in the first four innings to put the game out of reach. Freshman Nyree White came in for her first career postseason appearance, allowing just one run over three innings, but by then Louisiana-Lafayette had the game well under control.
Stanford ends its season at 40-19, marking the 13th time in school history that the team reached 40 wins and the 15th straight time the Cardinal made the postseason.
– Jacob Jaffe