PALO ALTO, Calif- The Nevada softball team fell to the Stanford Cardinal in both games of a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Pack is now 3-10 overall on the year.
Sadaria McAlister and
Haley Burda both tallied hits in each game.
Chelie Senini and
Charli McLendon had singles in game one while
Sierra Mello and
Lauren Gutierrez had singles in game two to help combine the team to eight hits on the day.
Stanford 7, Nevada 0
Blake Craft got the start in the circle and pitched 3 ⅓ innings with two strikeouts before
Julia Jensen came in relief and finished the game with 2 ⅔ innings pitched and two strikeouts.
Stanford plated a single run in the bottom of the first to take an early 1-0 lead but Craft and the defense held it close until the fourth inning. The Cardinal put two runners on with one out and the next batter hit a sac fly to left field to give them the 2-0 lead. Stanford extended its lead, 5-0, after three runs were scored on a throwing error. Nevada got out of the rough inning after a pop up was caught in the infield.
The Pack had runners on the corners with one out in the sixth but was unable to bring anyone home after a slow roller was hit back to the pitcher with two outs. The Cardinal plated two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to add insurance and when the Pack could not plate a run in the top of the seventh the game ended, 7-0.
Stanford 2 , Nevada 1
Kendall Fritz started in the second game of the doubleheader and pitched 6 ⅓ innings with only one earned run and a strikeout. The sophomore is now 2-4 on the year.
The game was scoreless through the first four innings. Nevada plated the first run of the game in the top of the fifth on a wild pitch but was put in that position thanks to a single from
Lauren Gutierrez and
Haley Burda. The Pack held the 1-0 lead until Stanford tied it up in the bottom of the sixth on a hit to right field.
With the score tied, 1-1, heading into the seventh inning it was anyones game. Nevada drew a two-out walk but the runner was stranded and the game moved into the last half inning. The Cardinal put together two one-out singles to put two on with only one out and in error in right field allowed the runner to come home to push Stanford up, 2-1.
Up next for the Pack is the series finale with the Cardinal, tomorrow, Feb. 23 at 1 pm. Following this weekend, Nevada heads to Hawaii for a five-game tournament beginning on Feb. 27.
