Stanford Softball Mercy Rules Sacramento State

Chalk another one up as a win, the Stanford Cardinal (33-9, 11-7 ACC) are rolling. Coming off of a strong weekend in which they took two out of three from Cal, the Cardinal returned to action on Tuesday and took on Sacramento State (22-21, 7-5 Big Sky) on the road, beating the Hornets 14-4 via the mercy rule.

Led by seven combined RBI from both Jade Berry and River Mahler, the Cardinal took control of the game early, and did not trail once, as they got back into the win column to earn more momentum ahead of another big weekend series. The first inning was a big one for the Cardinal, who scored four to go up 4-0.

Starting things off was Mahler, who with two runners on, hit a fly ball to center field for the runner from third to score, giving Stanford the 1-0 lead. After that, with Emily Jones on third, Berry hit a single to the right side to drive her in and make it 2-0.

Then came Kyra Chan, who was able to drive in Berry after she hit a big RBI triple to center field-- extending Stanford's lead to 3-0. Stanford went up 4-0 when Joie Economides grounded out to shortstop, scoring Chan from third.

The Cardinal kept it going in the top of the second, when six runs came across to score. With runners on second and third, Jones hit a single to center field that scored both Taryn Kern and Kylie Chung, helping Stanford go up 6-0.

That set up Mahler's big at-bat, which ended with her blasting a two-run home run to center field, bringing in Jones as well. After Caelan Koch and Chung both hit RBI singles, the Cardinal were already up 10-0 through two innings.

Sacramento State then got on the board in the bottom half of the second via a solo home run, but Stanford made up for it in the third and fourth innings. Getting a three-run home run from Berry in the third with Mahler and Jones on base to make it 13-1, followed by a sac-fly from Mahler in the fourth to score Mylia Perez from third, allowing Stanford to go up 14-1.

Sacramento State then had a three-run fourth inning to make it 14-4, but by that point, the game was well out of hand and since the Cardinal were still up by 10 runs or more, the mercy rule was then enacted after the fifth inning, giving the Cardinal the win.

Getting the start for Stanford was Chung, who while only pitching an inning, did not allow a run, hit or walk. Zoe Prystajko took home the win to improve to 11-4 on the season, allowing four runs on four hits while walking four and striking out eight.

The Cardinal have continued to show that they are major contenders this season, and with the home stretch of the season approaching, getting as much momentum as possible is vital.

After earning the win over the Hornets, Stanford will now shift its focus on preparing for this weekend, where the penultimate ACC series of the season against Virginia is in store. Playing the Cavaliers at home, the series will span from Friday-Sunday, with all games airing live on the ACC Network/ESPN.