Women’s lacrosse
Women’s lacrosse played in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament this week, opening with a game against Penn State on Friday. Penn State entered half-time with a 5-4 lead after a competitive back-and-forth first half. By contrast, the second half was dominated by the Card. Stanford scored three times and held Penn State scoreless.
With the win, Stanford moved on to a second-round contest against Michigan in Ann Arbor on Friday. With five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Michigan held a 12-11 lead. Stanford managed to tie the contest back up with a goal from redshirt junior Aliya Polisky that rounded out her hat trick, and with under a minute left, fifth year Jordyn Chase sent in the game winner. With the 13-12 victory, Stanford moves on to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in program history. The team will face No. 2-seed North Carolina on Thursday.
Baseball
The Cardinal beat the University of San Francisco last Wednesday 12-5. After two scoreless innings, the teams were tied at 4-4 going into the top of the sixth when freshman Nolan Stoll recorded his first homerun for the Card. Stanford proceeded to rack up four more runs over the following two innings en route to the eventual 12-5 win.
After having Thursday off, Stanford began a three-game series against NC State on Friday. During Friday’s match-up, the Card were able to amass a 6-3 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning before the stadium was affected by campus wide power outages. Those outages resulted in the scoreboard, press box, music and pitch clocks being rendered inoperable for the remainder of the contest. The stadium lights were able to remain powered on, and the Cardinal held on for a 6-5 victory.
On Saturday, Stanford looked poised to clinch the series after jumping out to an early 5-0 lead after the second inning. The Cardinal were not able to hold on to the lead and ended up losing the game 12-7. In Sunday’s series finale, Stanford entered the bottom of the seventh tied at 3-3, but junior Eric Jeon managed to drive in a run with bases loaded off of a ground ball single. Jeon’s RBI was followed quickly by a three-run homer from sophomore JJ Moran who managed to smash the ball into left field, putting the Card up 7-3. Stanford held onto the lead in its eventual 9-5 series-clinching victory. The victory marked the 300th win for head coach David Esquer in his time at Stanford.
On Tuesday, Stanford beat St. Mary’s 7-6. Following two three-run innings, Stanford entered the fourth with a 6-0 lead. After a three-run sixth for St. Mary’s, a run in the seventh for Stanford and a scoreless eighth inning, Stanford entered the final inning with a four-run lead. St. Mary’s nearly managed to pull off the comeback, scoring three runs to make the contest a 7-6 affair. Fortunately, Stanford’s defense held strong, and it was able to seal the victory with a double play on first and second. On Thursday, Stanford will begin a three-game series at Cal.
Softball
Last Thursday, Softball beat Louisville 6-5 on a walk-off sacrifice fly. Stanford entered the bottom of the eighth inning tied at 5-5 with their tournament hopes on the line when senior River Mahler stepped up to the plate. Mahler made contact with her pitch, sending the ball into center field where it was caught for the out but leaving enough of an opportunity for freshman Sophia Jin to reach home plate on the game-clinching run. With the victory, Stanford advanced to the ACC Championship semifinal against the No.1 seed and No. 8 nationally-ranked Florida State.
Friday’s contest against Florida State ended in a 9-0 loss and elimination from the ACC tournament. The Seminoles got out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back, handing Stanford its first loss since April 4 and breaking its 15-game winning streak. Stanford now looks ahead to the NCAA tournament and its May 15 regional match against Princeton.
Men’s tennis
On Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas, the men’s tennis season came to a close when No. 2 TCU defeated No. 18 Stanford in the NCAA Super Regional. TCU won two out of the three doubles matches and posted first-set wins across all six courts. With the loss, Stanford officially ends its season with a 19-9 record. This is the 18th-consecutive season and 46th season overall in which the Cardinal have reached the NCAA tournament.
Upcoming
Looking ahead, top ranked women’s golf is hosting the NCAA Regional this week. The third round is slated to take place on Wednesday. The top-five placing teams will advance on to the NCAA Championship. Beginning on Thursday, track and field will compete in ACC Championships in Louisville, Ky. For many Stanford athletes, conference championships are a final chance to qualify for NCAA West Prelims.