Stanford Softball Debuts New Ballpark, Recruits, in Dominant Opening Weekend

Stanford had a memorable weekend opening up their new ballpark

Stanford’s Taryn Kern, left, celebrates the first score of the fame with teammate Jade Berry during first inning of the Eugene NCAA Softball Regional May 17, 2025. | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Stanford softball opened up their brand new ballpark to begin the 2026 season this weekend, and in the span of five games they outscored their opponents 44-11 and secured a pair of run-rule victories on Saturday. They were scheduled for a doubleheader, but ended up playing just ten innings instead.

The most impressive piece of the program's weekend performance is that they knocked around No. 24 Oklahoma State, first on Opening Night, and then in the front part of that doubleheader on Saturday, scratching 10 runs across in three innings, and actually having to wait to complete five for the win.

Freshman Ava Bulanti made her debut on the mound in that 10-0 blowout of OK State, tossing two innings, allowing zero hits, walking one and striking out one. She gave way to Alyssa Houston, who finished the final three frames, giving up three hits and no runs while striking out five.

We also saw the debut of Freshman Anna Brewer on the mound on Friday night against San José State, and the righty from Columbia, Tennessee tossed a pair of innings, giving up three hits, one run, striking out three and hitting a batter.

The biggest debut may have been from the No. 4 ranked recruit from this year's class, Elena Krause, who ended up pitching back-to-back days against San José State, totaling eight innings of work and giving up nine hits, six earned runs, walking four and striking out eight. While it wasn't the best start, the Cardinal still picked up the wins and she got any jitters out of the way.

The most dominant pitcher this weekend had to be Zoe Prystajko, who appeared in three of the five games, going 2-0 for the weekend, and racking up a team-leading 10 2/3 innings of work. In that span she gave up just five hits, two runs (1.31 ERA), walked three and struck out an incredible 19. Her 10 strikeouts in Sunday's 7-2 win over Cal mark a new career best.

Taryn Kern leads the way

With her hit in the first inning of Sunday's game, senior Taryn Kern has now hit safely in all five games to begin the year. Not only has she notched one hit in all fie games, but she also ended the weekend going 11-for-15 (.733) with nine runs scored, five RBI, four doubles, a triple and a home run. She also added three walks to the tally while striking out just once.

It's safe to say that Kern is the straw that stirs the drink of this Cardinal offense. While Kern sets the table, it was Ava Gall that was bringing home the runners, securing a team-leading nine RBI over the weekend.

Senior Kyra Chan was the only Cardinal to hit as many as two home runs, though Kern, Gall, Addyson Sheppard and Joie Economides all had one each.

While starting the season 5-0 is terrific, it was the fact that they outscored Oklahoma State 14-2 in their two games that really set the tone early for this season.

This coming week Stanford will be hosting the Cardinal Classic, welcoming in Kentucky on Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. (PT). The Classic will continue with Cal State Fullerton and Cal Poly on Friday (3:30 and 6 p.m.), followed by another game against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday (12:30).

The weekend will wrap up with another doubleheader, with Oregon—the team that ended their season a year ago—and Cal Poly (12:30 and 3) coming to town. With another solid weekend, the Cardinal could make a big statement for the 2026 campaign.