Stanford Softball Snaps Three-Game Skid with Win Over Saint Mary's

Hero ball activated. A win on Wednesday night was pivotal for Stanford softball, who were in the midst of a three-game losing streak. But thanks to Kyra Chan, the Cardinal were able to regain some momentum with the win, taking down the Saint Mary's Gaels 5-4 in 10 innings.

With the game tied at four apiece heading into the tenth inning and with a runner on base, Chan came up to bat and delivered in the clutch, hitting a single that was enough to score Joie Economides and give the Cardinal a walk-off win. The hit was Chan's second of the game, going 2-for-5 in the contest.

The Cardinal started the game by taking a 4-0 lead in the very first inning. After the Gaels got themselves into a jam, allowing both Emily Jones and Taryn Kern to get on base, Economides got Stanford on the board with an RBI single to right-center, scoring both Jones and Kern and giving the Cardinal a 2-0 lead.

Later on in the inning, Allie Clements delivered on a big double that ended up scoring both Economides and Chan, putting Stanford up by four runs at the end of one.

But soon after, Saint Mary's started to wake up its bats, scoring two runs in the fifth inning via a two-run homer, cutting the Cardinal lead down to two and making it a 4-2 ballgame. Then in the sixth inning, the Gaels loaded the bases, setting Camill Lara up to bring in a run.

Despite hitting a grounder to second, a run was able to score on a fielder's choice to put the Gaels within one (4-3).

After the Cardinal were unable to score, the Gaels came up to bat in the seventh inning, motivated to take over. With runners on base, Jena Amador hit a single, but was able to advance to second on a throw, allowing another run to score and tying the game up at 4-4.

From then on, the game remained neck and neck, with neither team able to break the tie in regulation before Chan called game in the 10th.

On the mound, the Cardinal got a strong performance out of Kylie Chung, who allowed only one run on three hits through 8.1 innings of work. She walked seven, but struck out eight en route to earning the win to improve to 10-3 on the season.

Zoe Prystajko also pitched, allowing three runs on two hits through 1.2 innings, striking out four while walking one.

Now with another win under their belt, and improving to 25-6 on the season, the Cardinal have a massive momentum boost as they prepare to play in a pivotal three-game series against Clemson at home.

The series, which stems from Friday through Sunday, will have a first pitch of 6 p.m. (PT) on Friday followed by a 2 p.m. (PT) first pitch on Saturday and a 12 p.m. (PT) first pitch on Sunday. All games will air on ACC Network Extra/ESPN.