Stanford Softball Caps Off Regular Season with Sweep Over Boston College

Stanford softball continues to soar. In what has already been a dominant regular season, the Cardinal hit the road for their final series before the postseason, taking on Boston College in a three game set. And once again, the Cardinal showed why they belong in the championship contender conversation, sweeping the Eagles three games to none.

The first game saw the Cardinal win 10-5, with the bats really coming to life. After Stanford went up 5-0 in the first inning, highlighted by a two run home run from Emily Jones, a double from Kyra Chan and a two RBI single from Joie Economides, the Cardinal had the momentum firmly on their side for the rest of the game.

Boston College scored a run in the bottom half of the inning to make it 5-1 but in the second, River Mahler hit a solo home run to make it 6-1, setting up another takeover. Mahler's home run gave her confidence to drive in another run in the third via a sac fly before Jade Berry hit an RBI single to drive in another run, with the score being 8-1 Stanford by the time the inning was over.

Despite Boston College scoring two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 8-3, the Cardinal made up for it in the fifth inning, when Mahler drove in a run on a sac fly to make it 9-3 before Chan hit a single to right field to make it 10-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Boston College scored two more to make it 10-5, but were unable to complete the comeback.

Earning the win for the Cardinal was Zoe Prystajko, who allowed two runs on two hits while walking three and striking out four. She improves to 12-4 on the season.

Game two saw Stanford put together an even stronger showing at the plate, winning the game 20-7. The Cardinal took over rather early once again, taking a 3-0 lead in a first that was highlighted by a Chan RBI single. However, Boston College tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the inning when Jordan Stephens hit a three run home run.

But that was the only time that Boston College was able to tie or lead the game. The next two innings were all about Taryn Kern, who hit a solo home run in the second inning to make it 4-3 before hitting a two RBI single in the third inning to make it 6-3 Stanford.

Boston College cut the lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the third via a two run home run. But, once again, the Cardinal answered with big fourth, fifth and sixth innings to really open things up.

Both Berry and Economides hit home runs in the fourth, with Berry hitting a solo shot and Economides hitting a two run shot, to make it 9-5 Cardinal. Then in the fifth, Kyra Chan hit a three run home run to make it 12-5 Stanford.

Then came an eight run sixth inning, where Jones, Berry and Sydney Boulaphinh hit singles that helped the Cardinal end the inning up 20-5. And while the Eagles scored two more in the sixth, it was not enough as the mercy rule went into effect to give Stanford the 20-7 win.

Earning the win for the Cardinal was Kylie Chung who allowed two runs on two hits and three walks through 2.1 innings of work. She improved to 12-5 on the campaign.

The final game of the weekend proved to be much closer, but it was ultimately the Cardinal who took home the 8-7 win. Chan started things off in the first inning for Stanford, hitting a two run double to give the Cardinal the early 2-0 lead.

But Boston College proceeded to take the lead over the next couple of innings, hitting a three run home run in the bottom of the first to lead 3-2 before a sac fly in the third made it 4-2 Eagles.

But in the fifth, the Cardinal wasted no time in getting the lead back, with Mahler hitting a two run home run to tie things up at 4-4 before Chan hit an RBI double to give the Cardinal the 5-4 lead. Econmides then proceeded to add an insurance run, scoring Chan via an RBI single to make it 6-4.

But the Eagles were not done yet. An RBI single followed by an RBI double in the fifth inning gave them a 7-6 lead--the first time they held a lead during the series. But luckily for the Cardinal, it did not last long as an Economides RBI single in the seventh tied it up at 7-7 before a RBI single in the eighth from Kern made it 8-7 for the game's final score.

Earning the game three win was Chung, who pitched 3.1 innings of shutout softball, allowing only two hits while walking three and striking out two. She improves to 13-5 on the season.

With the series sweep and the regular season now over, the Cardinal will now turn their attention onto the ACC tournament, where they will take on Pittsburgh in the first round on Wednesday. The game will take place in Brighton, Massachusetts with first pitch scheduled for 10:30 a.m. (PDT) and will air on the ACC Network/ESPN.