Stanford Softball Ranked in Top 25 of Two Preseason Polls for 2025

It is almost that time of year. In just a few short weeks, Stanford softball will take the field to mark the start of the 2025 season, hungry to build off of the program's most successful campaigns in years. And as the season approaches, preseason polls have begun to come out, and this time around, the Cardinal got some well-deserved recognition.

Earlier this week, both D1 Softball and USA Softball (via ESPN.com) released their preseason top 25 rankings, with the Cardinal coming at No. 22 on both polls. Ending last year with a 50-17 record and earning their third consecutive trip to the College World Series, expectations are high this spring on The Farm, even if the team is forced to play their home games at Stanford Stadium as opposed to their usual home of Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium.

Under head coach Jessica Allister, the Cardinal went from being a struggling team to a perennial contender, with 2024 marking a pivotal season for the program.

Going 17-3 in Pac-12 play, which was good enough for a second place finish in the conference, the Cardinal then earned a first round bye in the conference postseason tournament. After beating Cal 4-2 in the quarterfinals, the Cardinal then fell to eventual runners-up, Utah, in the semifinals.

In the NCAA tournament, the Cardinal were named one of the hosts for the Regionals Round, as they played at home against Saint Mary's, Mississippi State and Fullerton. Going 3-1, only losing one out of their two games to Fullerton, the Cardinal advanced to and hosted the Super Regionals, where they faced No. 11 LSU in a double elimination series.

Beating the Tigers two games to one, they were among one of the eight teams that qualified for the Women's College World Series, making it all the way to the semifinals where they fell to the eventual runners-up, Texas.

Stanford could see more of the same success in 2025, given the amount of talent that is returning. Last year's top three performers in Emily Jones (sophomore in '24), River Mahler (sophomore in '24) and Taryn Kern (sophomore in '24) are all poised to not only be back, but could find themselves with even bigger roles this spring.

Pitching wise, things may get a little tougher, however. Losing ace NiJaree Canady to the transfer portal (Texas Tech) and having Regan Krause graduate, the only two holdovers from last year's staff will be Alyssa Houston and Kylie Chung.

Both of them though were solid last year and with more experience under their belt, could look even better in 2025 and make up for the loss of Canady's star power.

Either way, it will be a big year on the diamond for Stanford as the program locks in on not only continuing its current run of success, but getting over the hump and proving that it can be one of the last teams standing come June.