Stanford softball suffers first loss of season against Kentucky

The No. 13 Stanford Cardinal (5-1, 0-0 ACC) fell to the No. 25 Kentucky Wildcats (6-2, 0-0 SEC) Thursday afternoon for their first loss of the season. 

Kentucky came out hot in the first inning with three unearned runs on junior pitcher Alyssa Houston, including a two-run RBI from senior catcher Karissa Hamilton, followed by an RBI from junior catcher Carly Sleeman. 

Stanford failed to counter in the bottom of the first, and Kentucky added four runs on freshman pitcher Ava Bulanti in the top of the second. Freshman pitcher Anna Brewer relieved Bulanti before the Wildcats added one more run to the board, bringing the score to 5-0. 

The Cardinal finally gained rhythm in the bottom of the third with freshman left fielder Adriana Callahan’s triple to left center, bringing in freshman designated hitter/second baseman Addyson Shepard from second base. In the next at-bat, senior second/first baseman Taryn Kern kept that rhythm going with a ground ball to second base, bringing in Callahan.

The Wildcats put up two more runs against Brewer in the top of the fifth on a defensive error and a sacrifice fly. The Cardinal countered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth with RBIs from Kern and senior shortstop River Mahler.

Kentucky’s Hamilton brought the score to 11-4 with a homerun to deep left field. In the bottom of the sixth, senior center fielder Emily Jones brought junior catcher Ava Gall in with a ball to second. Sophomore first baseman/designated hitter Joie Encomiendes scored on a passed ball. Kentucky zeroed the top of the seventh, giving the Cardinal one last chance to come back in the bottom of the inning.

After Kern was walked on a 3-2 count, third baseman Jade Berry singled up the middle to bring Kern in from second. The seventh inning ended with a score of 11-7, giving the Cardinal their first loss of the season.

The game was played at Vikings Field at West Valley College because Stanford was unable to retrieve a temporary occupancy permit from the County of Santa Clara for the new Stanford Softball Stadium. Thus, last weekend’s Stanford Invitational Tournament was hosted at the new stadium out of error. The three remaining Cardinal Classic I games have also been relocated to alternate stadiums at West Valley College and San Jose State University.

Stanford will rematch against Kentucky tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at San Jose State. The rest of the weekend sees games against Cal State Fullerton on Saturday and the University of Oregon on Sunday, both at West Valley College.

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