Stanford Softball Wins Two of Three in Series vs. Georgia Tech

Another series has come and gone for Stanford softball, and once again, the team took care of business. In what was a three-game series in Atlanta that lasted from Friday to Sunday, the Cardinal (14-3, 2-1 ACC) won two out of the three games, winning their first-ever series as a member of the ACC.

Game one proved to be the toughest of the series for the Cardinal, who took home the 5-4 loss. Stanford started the game strong, taking a 4-0 lead thanks in large part to a third inning two-run home run from River Mahler and a fifth inning home run from Jade Berry. However, it soon became all about Georgia Tech, who had a massive bottom half of the fifth where it scored five runs to take a 5-4 lead.

It all started with a double from Georgia Tech's Paige Vukadinovich that got the Yellow Jackets on the board. Then, the momentum was firmly on the Yellow Jacket's side, with an RBI walk from Jayden Gailey making it 4-2. The inning ended with Addison Leschber walking to bring in a run which gave the Yellow Jackets the 5-4 lead and the eventual win.

For Stanford, Kylie Chung pitched most of the game, going four innings while only allowing one hit. Zoe Prystajko pitched as well, going 0.1 innings while allowing one hit, three runs (one earned) while walking two and striking out one. Alyssa Houston took the loss, going 1.2 innings, allowing two hits, two runs (none earned) while walking two and striking out two.

The second game was a good rebound for the Cardinal, who took home the 16-12 win. After Georgia Tech got on the board first in the third inning, Kyra Chan got things going for the Cardinal in the top half of the fourth when she hit a three-run homer to make it 3-1 Stanford.

But, a big fourth inning from Georgia Tech saw them retake the lead, leading 9-3 by the time the inning ended. The Cardinal chipped away in the fifth, with Emily Jones hitting a home run, River Mahler hitting a double and Allie Clements hitting an RBI single to cut the lead to 9-6.

After the Yellow Jackets were held scoreless, the Cardinal came back out in the sixth and chipped away even more, with Kylie Chung hitting an RBI double and Caelan Koch hitting an RBI single to make it 9-8.

But the seventh inning is when the real fun started for the Cardinal, where they were able to take a sizable lead to win the game.

The seventh started with a walk from Joie Economides to bring in a run and tie things up at 9-9. Eventually, the bases were loaded for Jones, who hit a grand slam to center field for her second homer of the afternoon, and bringing in all the runners to make it 13-9 Cardinal.

After that, Mahler walked in a run, Berry reached on a fielder's choice and Clements reached base on a fielder's choice to have the inning end with Stanford up 16-9.

Even though Georgia Tech scored three more in the bottom half of the seventh, with both Caroline Patterson and Eliana Gottlieb hitting home runs to make it 16-12, it was not enough to come back.

Prystajko pitched 3.1 innings for Stanford, allowing three hits and two runs while walking two and striking out one. Chung pitched as well, going 1.2 innings while allowing four hits and four runs while walking two and striking out one.

Houston got the win to improve to 4-1 on the season, going 2.0 innings while allowing one hit and six runs, walking five and striking out three.

The final game of the series was a 2-0 win for Stanford, with Mahler bringing in the game's only two runs in the fifth inning when she hit a double to score both Sydney Boulaphinh and Kiley Buckley. Chung got the win on the mound, pitching 6.1 innings while allowing only two hits, walking six and striking out one.

Next up for Stanford is another three-game ACC series, this time at home against Syracuse. The first game will be on Friday, March 7 with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. (PT).