Stanford Softball to Take on Pittsburgh to Begin ACC Tournament

Stanford's first ACC tournament could feature some top notch matchups

Jun 1, 2023; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Stanford Cardinals head coach Jessica Allister questions a call in the sixth inning against the Oklahoma Sooners during the Womens College World Series at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn Images | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

Postseason play is finally here. After finishing the regular season on a high note by sweeping Boston College, the Stanford Cardinal (39-10, 16-8 ACC) are officially switching gears to the ACC tournament, where in their first season as a member of the conference, they qualified as the No. 5 seed. In the first game, the Cardinal will be taking on No. 12 seed Pittsburgh.

In what is a single-elimination tournament, the Cardinal and the Panthers will face off at 10:30 a.m. (PDT) at Harrison Athletics Village in Brighton, Massachusetts, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals to take on No. 4 seed Duke. If the Cardinal are able to make it all the way to the end, the championship game will take place on Saturday.

Stanford's road to the ACC tournament has been a dominant one. One of the best offensive teams in the nation for much of the season, the Cardinal currently lead the ACC in scoring, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, with stars Kyra Chan and Jade Berry tied for the team lead with 57 RBI.

But one area that the Cardinal have been particularly strong in this season is there home run hitting, with 93 being hit over the course of 49 games-- the most in program history. Taryn Kern, who leads the team with 19 home runs and has a team high .857 slugging percentage, is 14th in the nation in home runs hit while coming in at second in the ACC.

While there were plenty of questions regarding the expectations for the Cardinal entering the season, given that they are in a new conference, the program has picked up right where they left off from last season and are looking to make the Women's College World Series for the third consecutive season.

Since Jessica Allister took over as head coach prior to the 2018 season, the Cardinal went from a struggling program to one of the nation's most prominent.

This year's tournament won't be easy given all the talent in the field, but with how well Stanford has played its conference opponents and all the talent on the roster, it would not be a total shock to see the Cardinal as the last team standing at the end. Here is a look at the full ACC tournament bracket with all of the first round matchups listed.

𝙒𝙝𝙤'𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙡? 🏆

The 2025 ACC Softball Championship Bracket is officially here!

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— ACC Softball (@ACCsoftball) May 4, 2025

This will the the Cardinal's first time facing Pittsburgh this season, and if they win, their matchup with Duke would also be a first for 2025. Stanford softball went 16-8 against the ACC this season.