Stanford Softball Sweeps Syracuse in Inaugural ACC Home Series

For the first time ever, the Stanford Cardinal hosted a home series as a member of the ACC. Its first opponent was Syracuse, who came in looking to provide a tough test for a surging Cardinal team. Luckily for the Cardinal, they came in just as focused, taking home wins in all three games to not only win the series, but earn the sweep.

Game one started with a 4-3 win for the Cardinal, thanks in large part to a massive second inning.

In what started with an RBI triple from Joie Economides that made it 1-0, the Cardinal scored all of their runs in that inning. After Economides brought in the game's first run, Caelan Koch brought her in after she hit an RBI single to make it 2-0. Taryn Kern then hit an RBI triple of her own followed by Emily Jones hitting a single to score Kern from third, making it 4-0.

Syracuse then scored two runs in the fifth off RBI singles followed by a run scored via a walk in the seventh, but it was not enough, as the Cardinal's big second inning was able to secure the one-run win.

On the mound, Kylie Chung got the win, pitching 4.2 innings and allowing three hits, two runs and walking two while striking out one. Zoe Prystajko got the save, going 2.1 innings and allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four batters.

Game two saw the Cardinal pick up right where they left from the day before, earning a 5-1 victory. Starting things off was Kern recording an RBI via a hit by pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Jade Berry from third to make it 1-0.

Later in the inning, Jones hit a single to shortstop that drove in another two runs, making it 3-0 by the time the second inning was over. In the third, Economides came in clutch again, this time hitting a solo home run to deep left field to make it 4-0 Cardinal. Syracuse's lone run came in the fourth inning, when a sac fly drove in a runner from third, cutting Stanford's lead to 4-1.

Luckily for the Cardinal, they were able to score one more run to take home the 5-1 win by way of a fielder's choice, with River Mahler hitting a grounder to first base that resulted in Dani Hayes scoring.

Once again, Chung pitched and got the win, going four innings and allowing one hit and walking two as she struck out three batters in a shutout. Alyssa Houston pitched the last three innings, giving up one run on one hit while walking two and striking out five.

In the final game of the weekend on Sunday, the Cardinal took care of business in six innings, beating the Orange 9-0. In the second inning, a wild pitch from Syracuse brought in the first run for Stanford when Berry scored from third. Two more runs scored for Stanford in the third inning to make it 3-0 after Berry singled to score Mahler, which was followed by Economides hitting a single to drive in Berry.

In the fourth inning, a double from Mahler drove in both Jones and Kern, giving Stanford a 5-0 lead. Later in the inning, Berry hit a solo homer to right field, making it 6-0.

To cap things off, with two runners on base in the sixth, Berry hit her second homer of the day, this time a three-run shot to right field to really open the game up and make it 9-0 Stanford. Unable to get anything going, the game ended after the inning, with Syracuse being held scoreless.

On the mound, Prystajko got the win, going five innings while allowing two hits and striking out one. Chung pitched the last inning, allowing only one hit as she struck out two.

With the win, the Cardinal now improve to 17-3 on the campaign and have a massive momentum boost heading into the next round of games. Next up on the docket for the Cardinal is a two-game, Thursday-Friday series against Cal Baptist at home. Thursday's game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. (PT) while Friday's game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. (PT).