BATON ROUGE – Making use of another big sixth inning on Friday afternoon, Stanford (9-2) scored six times on four hits to break a 1-1 tie and run away with a 7-1 victory over Michigan (4-6) from the LSU Invitational and Tiger Park.
Including the six against the Wolverines, Stanford has now scored 13 runs in the sixth inning during the LSU Invitational.
After a scoreless three innings to start the game, Michigan broke through with a run in the fourth to take a 1-0 lead. Lexie Blair punched a leadoff single into right field to get the ball rolling before Mackenzie Nemitz dropped a sacrifice bunt up the first base line to move the runner. Katie Alexander followed with a single to push Blair to third, setting the table for a sacrifice fly from Haley Hoogenraad.
Held hitless through the first 3.2 innings of play, Stanford strung together back-to-back two-out doubles from Whitney Burks and Montana Dixon to draw back even at a run apiece. Burks got it going with a line drive off the glove of Nemitz at third base before Dixon belted the seventh pitch of her at bat over the head of Blair in left field to send Burks around to score.
Kiana Pancino escaped a big jam in the sixth inning, inheriting runners at second and third with only one out in a tie game after taking over for Carolyn Lee. The right-hander induced a shallow fly ball to centerfield for the second out of the inning before Kristina Inouye made a stellar backhanded pick at third base on a hard-hit ball off the bat of Hoogenraad to retire the side.
Carrying momentum from the defensive side of the ball, Stanford's offense exploded for the six runs to carry a 7-1 lead into the seventh. Teaghan Cowles lined the first pitch of the inning into left field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Emily Klingaman. Inouye delivered the go-ahead hit on the next play, punching a single off the glove of Madison Uden at third base to bring home Cowles. The Cardinal would eventually load the bases on the heels of consecutive hit-by-pitches, and freshman Kate Cressey made the most of her opportunity, lining a two-out, two-RBI single into left field to open the flood gates. After a wild pitch scored Dixon and pushed the Cardinal lead to 5-1, Taylor Gindlesperger collected her first career hit – an RBI-single into centerfield to bring home Cressey. Gindlesperger would ultimately cap the scoring two plays later, racing around to score all the way from second base on another wild pitch.
Lee impressed again in the circle, but did not factor in the decision. The native of San Ramon, Calif. dealt 5.1 innings, allowing just one run on five hits and no walks while striking out four. Benefitting from the offensive explosion, Pancino was credited with the win and moved to 3-0 after tossing the final 1.2 scoreless innings with a strikeout.
Lee now owns a 1-1 record and a 0.88 ERA over five starts this year.
Stanford will return to action on Saturday when it meets Memphis at 7:30 a.m. PT.