Stanford softball defeats No. 14 Oregon to close out Cardinal Classic I Tournament

The Cardinal (8-1, 0-0 ACC) started off strong this afternoon against the University of Oregon (5-4, 0-0 Big Ten), putting three batters up and three batters down in the first inning with sophomore pitcher Zoe Prystajko.

Stanford put up two runs in the bottom of the first with RBIs from senior right fielder Kyra Chan and freshman second baseman Addyson Sheppard. 

In the top of the second, the Ducks scored off a hit-by-pitch RBI, and Oregon junior pitcher Taylour Spencer put three up and three down on the Cardinal in the bottom of the inning.

Sheppard had a tough battle in the box in the bottom of the third, holding on to a 3-2 count through five fouls before hitting a single to shallow center field for two RBIs. 

Junior pitcher Alyssa Houston relieved Prystajko in the top of the fourth, pitching 0.1 inning before Prystajko returned to the circle in the top of the fifth. 

“I didn’t think they were on her good stuff,” said head coach Jessica Allister about Prystajko. “I thought when she was getting in trouble, she was making mistakes… we didn’t feel like she’d been over-exposed, but that she just needed to be a little bit sharper. So, we brought in Alyssa to a chunk of the lineup where we thought she was a pretty good match, and she was, and she got us back in the inning.”

Prystajko pitched 6.2 innings against Oregon, surrendering four runs on eight hits, with Houston relieving her for only 0.1, but the game-time decision proved to work out for the Cardinal. Prystajko’s return was followed by a double play by senior first baseman Taryn Kern to take Stanford into the bottom of the fifth.

Oregon, with a runner on third, intentionally walked Chan to get an “easy out” on Sheppard, who was next in the lineup. Sheppard, however, hit a single past the shortstop for an RBI.

“The batter before got intentionally walked to get to her. And then she got a hit, which was just awesome. I love to see that karma,” Kern said about Sheppard’s hit.

The Cardinal put three up and three down at the top of the sixth, and left the box score unchanged at the bottom of the inning. With one more chance to come back from a 5-3 score, Oregon managed to score an RBI on an error in right field. 

With two outs and two strikes on the batter, the weight of the game rested on Prystajko. The Oregon batter made contact with the ball, hitting a foul pop fly just left of the plate. Prystajko and freshman catcher Izzy Cacatian both went for the ball, failing to agree on who would make the game-winning catch.

“Don’t let this change the outcome of the game,” Prystajko said to herself in the moment. “I think that was the biggest thing. Like, okay, you made a mistake. That’s fine, just come back stronger.”

Come back stronger she did, as Prystajko threw the game-winning strike to beat No. 14 Oregon 5-4. 

The win marked the end of the Cardinal Classic I tournament, where Stanford went 3-1, falling to Kentucky (6-4, 0-0 ACC) before coming back and beating Kentucky, Cal State Fullerton (4-6, 0-0 Big West) and Oregon.

“We obviously lost to Kentucky, but it was just great to see the bounce back and the resilience there,” said Kern. “And just the teamwork, it feels like our team is flowing really well together, and it’s awesome.”

Resilience was the word of the weekend. Not only did the Cardinal bounce back from a loss to Kentucky, but they also played all four games at alternative stadiums due to permit issues at the brand new Stanford Softball Stadium.

“I’m really proud of a lot of things this weekend. I’m proud of our team’s resilience,” Allister said.

“We still have a long season ahead, and we’re playing some pretty good teams next week, but I think it’s good for just showing that we can do this, we can face these teams and we can succeed,” Prystajko said.

Stanford plays the DeMarini invitational at home this Thursday through Sunday as they will face Arizona (8-3, 0-0 Big 12), No. 1 Texas (9-1, 0-0 SEC), Boise State (6-4, 0-0 Mountain West) and Santa Clara (4-4, 0-0 WCC).

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