(Photo Courtesy of Stanford Athletics)
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – No. 13/11 Stanford split a pair of games on the first day of competition at the Mary Nutter Classic, defeating Maryland and falling to No. 15/15 Baylor.
Stanford (13-1) opened the day with a 2-1 victory over Maryland (1-12), securing the win on a wild finish. With two outs and runners on first and third in the seventh inning, a pitch from Madi Schreyer (10-0) got away from catcher Jessica Plaza. The Maryland runner on third took off for home, but Plaza was able to flip the ball to Schreyer who tagged the runner out in time to end the game.
The Cardinal recorded just two hits in the game but an RBI-double by Bessie Noll in the third inning was enough to pick up the victory.
Schreyer was excellent in the circle, allowing one run on four hits and striking out four to earn the complete-game victory. It was the fifth consecutive game Schreyer recorded a win.
The Cardinal’s 13-game winning streak came to a close when Stanford fell to No. 15/15 Baylor, 7-1. The Bears got on the board early with five runs in the first three innings, and pitcher Whitney Canion (5-2) threw 7.0 strong innings in the circle, allowing one run on four hits and striking out eight.
Kayla Bonstrom (1-1) made her first collegiate start for the Cardinal and went 3.0 innings before Kylie Sorenson came in as relief to close the game. The duo also led the way offensively for Stanford, notching two hits apiece.
Stanford’s offense came in spurts with each of its hits coming in four separate innings. The Cardinal got on the board in the sixth inning after Hanna Winter reached on an error, advanced on a groundball out by Leah White and was driven home by a single from Sorenson.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier as the Cardinal look to start a new winning streak Saturday against No. 23/23 LSU at 2:30 p.m. (PT). Stanford will conclude its tournament Sunday with games against Syracuse at 11:30 a.m. and No. 2/3 Tennessee at 2 p.m.
