BATON ROUGE - Trailing 5-0 headed into the sixth inning on Thursday night, Stanford (7-2) took advantage of two costly LSU defensive miscues en route to scoring seven runs in the frame and earning a 7-5 road win over the Tigers (9-3) from Tiger Park.
Here's how Stanford turned a 5-0 deficit into a 7-5 victory at #7 LSU tonight! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/2TejHH6pea
— Stanford Softball (@StanfordSball) February 22, 2019
Stanford's comeback began with three free passes, as starter Maribeth Gorsuch walked Teaghan Cowles, hit Emily Klingaman, and walked Kristina Inouye to load the bases for Whitney Burks. Burks turned in a productive ground ball to shortstop, putting the Card on the board and cutting the lead to 5-1. An Emily Schultz walk reloaded the bases for the Card, but reliever Shelby Wickersham, who eventually drew the loss and fell to 3-1, struck out Emily Young for the second out of the frame.
While the free passes set the table for the big inning, it was the first defensive miscue that kept the stanza alive, as Kate Cressey reached first on a dropped third strike that also allowed Klingaman to come in from third, leaving the tally at 5-2.
LSU seemingly stopped the bleeding on the ensuing play, as Taylor Gindlesperger hit a ground ball to third that was gloved by Amanda Sanchez. Sanchez fielded cleanly, but fired high and wide of the bag at first base, sending two more runs around to score and leaving runners at second and third in a 5-4 game.
Alyssa Horeczko made the defensive error hurt on the ensuing play, lining a two-RBI single back up the middle to hand Stanford all the momentum and the 6-5 advantage. Cowles, batting for the second time in the inning, added an insurance run with a double off the glove of a diving Claire Weinberger in right field.
While the at bat will likely be remembered as the difference in the game, Horeczko also made a large impact on the defensive side of the ball, throwing out a pair of runners at the plate in the LSU third inning. The junior left fielder threw out Weinberger for the second out of the frame before nabbing Sanchez at the dish to end the third and limit the damage to just two runs.
T4 » ?? 2, ?? 0
— Stanford Softball (@StanfordSball) February 22, 2019
LSU gets a pair, but Alyssa Horeczko also throws out a pair trying to score in the inning! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/9zBpKUlCe7
Sophomore Maddy Dwyer, who pitched the final 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, was credited with her first save after taking over for Nikki Bauer. Bauer, who dealt 2.0 innings in her 2019 debut, earned the win and moved to 1-0. Junior Kiana Pancino got the start for Stanford, tossing 3.0 innings and allowing two runs on four hits in the no decision.
Cowles finished the game 2-for-3 out of the leadoff spot – accounting for half of Stanford's four hits. Shelbi Sunseri posted two hits of her own for LSU, going 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in the fifth – her seventh round-tripper of the year.
Stanford will play two games on Friday in Baton Rouge, meeting CSUN at 10 a.m. PT before lining up against Michigan at 12:30 p.m. PT.