With a two-out walk-off double from senior Kayla Bonstrom on Sunday, Stanford softball (11-8) won its fourth straight game and finished its five-game weekend in Hawaii with only a single loss. The Cardinal took both games against the University of Hawaii (11-9) and won their series against Coastal Carolina (8-11) 2-1 en route to a 4-1 record at the Hawaii Tournament.
Stanford struggled in its first game on Friday, falling to the Chanticleers 8-3, but the team was able to bounce back later that night, dominating the Warriors with a resounding 13-4 win. Junior infielder Kylie Sorenson led the Cardinal on the day, going 4-for-8 while plating 7 runners and scoring 4 runs of her own across the two games.
Coastal Carolina kicked off the bottom of the first inning in the first game with back-to-back singles, and a three-run home run from senior catcher Morgan Noad gave the Chanticleers an early 3-0 advantage. Sorenson put the Cardinal back in contention in the top of the second with a two-run home run, but Cardinal pitcher Haley Snyder gave up another homer in the fourth, and an RBI single in the fifth exteded the Chants’ advantage to 5-2.
Coastal Carolina put the game effectively out of reach in the sixth, plating three runners on four hits. Chanticleers pitcher Kelsey Dominik pitched lights-out in her complete-game effort, at one point retiring 15 consecutive batters across five innings. Cardinal sophomore Arden Pettit’s first career home run in the seventh broke up Dominik’s streak, but Stanford was unable to come back and dropped the game 8-3.
Later that evening, Stanford rallied, pairing prolific offense with a strong seven-inning performance from freshman pitcher Carolyn Lee. Lee gave up only 3 earned runs on 6 hits and tallied 5 strikeouts to aid the Cardinal in their 13-4 drubbing of Hawaii. With just a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth, the Stanford offense upped its game, scoring 8 runs over the next three innings, while Lee held the Warriors scoreless.
On Saturday, the Cardinal offense continued its strong performance, scoring 26 runs across two six-inning, run-rule victories — 12-4 over Coastal Carolina and 14-6 over Hawaii — with nine different Cardinal batters recording a hit. Freshman infielder Lauren Frost had a breakout performance, hitting her first career grand slam in the midday matchup with Coastal Carolina and a two-run moonshot in the late game against Hawaii.
Stanford came into its single game on Sunday looking to keep its win streak alive. Lee once again got the start in the circle, recording a career-high 7 strikeouts while throwing her eighth career complete game. The Chanticleers kept the score tight, and the game was tied from the fourth inning onward. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Whitney Burks singled to give Stanford the chance to end the game without extra innings. Bonstrom, a 2015 All-American, sent a double into the gap to knock in Burks, giving Stanford the 8-7 win and extending its winning streak to four.
Next weekend the Cardinal will host the Louisville Slugger Classic Tournament and are scheduled to play Cal Poly, Tulsa and Florida State.
Contact Olivia Hummer at ohummer ‘at’ stanford.edu.