Stanford Falls in Finale

Savannah Schulze (Photo by David Bernal)

Courtesy: Stanford Athletics
STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford was unable to halt No. 17/16 Arizona’s offense and dropped the series finale 8-0 in five innings Sunday afternoon in front of a packed Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium.

The Cardinal (13-23, 0-12 Pac-12) hit the ball well but could not generate the hits needed to get on the scoreboard, leaving runners on base in three-of-five innings. The Wildcats (31-12, 8-4 Pac-12) produced 12 singles en route to its eight runs. It was the second game of the three-game series in which Stanford did not permit an extra-base hit.

Savannah Schulze led the Cardinal offensively, going 1-for-1 with a single and a walk. Bessie Noll
and Lauren Wegner also contributed a single apiece.

Carolyn Lee (6-14) got the start in the circle and allowed seven runs on 11 hits and three walks. She was relieved in the fifth inning by Haley Snyder who battled through a costly error by her defense to tame the Wildcats offense and only permit one unearned run.

Arizona got off to a quick start, producing four singles and a walk to take an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

The Cardinal suffered another blow in the top of the first when it lost shortstop Kylie Sorenson to an injury after she landed awkwardly while making a diving stop on a hard-hit grounder up the middle.
Kaitlin Schaberg stepped in at shortstop for the remainder of the game and played well, including making a quality defensive play on a grounder deep in the hole in the top of the fourth inning to end a potential rally and get out of the inning.

The Wildcats doubled its lead to 6-0 with four more hits in the top of the second inning. A sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth and a Stanford error in the top of the fifth gave Arizona an 8-0 advantage.
Schulze walked in the bottom of the fifth but the Cardinal was unable to move her around to cut into the eight-run lead and extend the game.

Stanford returns to the road next week when it takes on Utah, beginning Friday at 5 p.m. (PT).