TEMPE, Ariz. – Stanford rallied back from an early deficit but could not complete the comeback, falling to Arizona State, 6-5, Saturday afternoon.
Kaitlin Schaberg and Bessie Noll hit a home run apiece to power the Cardinal (13-31, 0-20 Pac-12), and Haley Snyder (7-12) had a nice outing in the circle to keep Stanford within striking distance throughout the game.
Snyder threw her ninth complete game of the season, permitting six runs on 10 hits and three walks with one strikeout.
Noll provided the defensive highlight of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. Arizona State's Chelsea Gonzales hit a long fly ball near the warning track in center field with runners on first and second. Noll made the catch then fired a dart to third base to get the runner on second trying to tag up on the play.
Stanford's defense played well overall on the day with multiple players making quality plays throughout the contest.
Highlights from Stanford's game at Arizona State.
Arizona State jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, scoring all four runs with two outs. Nikki Girard hit an RBI-single up the middle then Katee Aguirre followed with a three-run home run.
Stanford battled back in the top of the third inning with four runs of its own. Noll hit an RBI-single to score Molly Fowkes from third.
Schaberg followed with a three-run home run to left field to knot the score at 4-4. It is her first homer since her freshman year when she hit two.
The Sun Devils rallied for a run in the bottom half of the third inning to retake the lead, 5-4, and added an insurance run in the fourth to take a 6-4 advantage.
The extra Arizona State run in the bottom of the fourth proved to be the difference.
Noll hit a leadoff home run on the first pitch of the top of the fifth inning to cut Arizona State's lead to 6-5. It is Noll's seventh home run of the season and first since returning from a midseason injury that kept her off the field for a month.
That would be all the Cardinal would get for the remainder of the game, as the Sun Devils kept Stanford off the board in the sixth and seventh innings to secure the victory.
The Cardinal looks to take the series finale Sunday at 2 p.m. (PT). The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.