No. 9 Stanford visits Arizona State this weekend, attempting to secure a series victory for the second straight season after taking two of three on The Farm last April.
The Cardinal is seeking its first win in Tempe since defeating the Sun Devils 6-2 on April 9, 2021. Stanford has never won a best-of-three series at Arizona State.
Stanford boasts one of the most dominant pitching staffs in the nation, ranking third in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.97), fourth in ERA (1.53) and eighth in shutouts (17). The Cardinal recorded eight consecutive shutouts from March 1-10.
Freshman NiJaree Canady is the nation's leader in ERA (0.29), hits allowed per seven innings (2.32) and strikeouts per seven innings (11.8) while ranking 15th in shutouts (6). Canady, who in 73.1 innings leads the Cardinal with 123 strikeouts while walking only 14, has thrown two no-hitters. Canady's 18 strikeouts against Villanova on March 3 was the most since Missy Penna's school record of 19 back on March 23, 2009 against Cal Poly. A four-time Pac-12 weekly award winner, Canady joins teammate Alana Vawter as top-25 finalists for the 2023 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
Stanford's .979 fielding percentage ranks third in the Pac-12 and 11th in the country. The Cardinal has committed only 26 errors through 45 games. Junior Aly Kaneshiro has thrown out 12 of 18 baserunners, ranking 21st in the nation in runners caught stealing.
Stanford has produced one of its most impressive seasons in recent memory and is chasing its first 40-win campaign since 2012.
The Cardinal has been a top-10 fixture in the polls for much of the season, ranking as high as No. 5 in the nation.
Stanford pieced together a 21-game winning streak earlier this season, spanning from Feb. 12-March 17. It's the second-longest winning streak in program history, trailing only a 28-game unbeaten stretch from Feb. 7-March 23 in 2009.
Stanford has displayed marked progress every season under head coach Jessica Allister, who owns a 186-109 overall record (.631) in six seasons on The Farm. Allister's career coaching record is 476-216 (.688) and includes a 290-107 (.730) mark during a seven-year tenure at Minnesota.
