March 29, 2009

Box Score

Stanford, Calif. - For the second straight day All-Americans Danielle Lawrie and Missy Penna dueled in the circle, but this time, Shannon Koplitz ensured that the battle wouldn't require extra innings. The Stanford junior ripped a two-run home run over the left field fence in the fourth inning, breaking up Lawrie's no-hitter and driving in what proved to be the game's only runs.

With the 2-0 win, Stanford improves to 31-2 and concludes its first weekend of Pac-10 play with a 2-1 mark in the conference. Washington drops to 28-5 and 1-2 in the Pac-10.

Penna (21-2) delivered another outstanding performance, shutting down the Huskies for the second straight day to tie Dana Sorensen as the school's all-time win leader (105). The win also moved the Cardinal senior into a tie for eighth place on the Pac-10's all-time win chart and etched her name on the program's single-season win list for the fourth consecutive year.

Starting the game having already thrown 18 innings on the weekend, Penna fanned eight Huskies, gave up six hits and walked just one in seven innings of work. She earned her second shutout of the weekend and built her ongoing school record to 45. Her eight K's were enough to pass former UCLA great Keira Goerl for ninth place on the Pac-10's all-time strikeout list.

Penna finished the weekend with a 0.75 ERA, which ranks second to only Lawrie in the Pac-10. The Cardinal All-American held the second-ranked Huskies scoreless for 18 innings and struck out 21 of them.

Lawrie, Washington's All-American ace, dropped to 19-3 after suffering two losses at the hands of the Cardinal this weekend. The junior struck out eight and allowed just two Stanford hits.

Stanford's first base runner didn't come until the fourth inning, but when Alissa Haber drew a walk, the Cardinal capitalized. With one out and Haber on first, Koplitz clocked Lawrie's first offering well over the fence in left field. The home run was the sixth for the junior this year, and the 13th of her career. Koplitz became just the second player to take Lawrie deep this season.

Senior Maddy Coon drove a single down the left line in the sixth inning to account for Stanford's only other hit.

Washington was led by seniors Ashley Charters and Lauren Greer, who picked up two hits apiece. Senior Ashlyn Waton and freshman Kimi Pohlman rounded out the six Husky hits.

Stanford left three runners on base, with two of those in scoring position. Sarah Hassman was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning and got to second with two outs, while Coon reached second on a two-out wild pitch after her sixth-inning single.

Washington left eight runners aboard, including three in scoring position. Penna got out of three two-on, two-out situations over the course of the game and came up with two critical strikeouts with runners on base.

Stanford takes the series from Washington for the sixth time in the last seven years. The Cardinal has now won the last four times the two teams have met. Stanford will play Washington again on May 7 in Seattle, looking to sweep the series for the first time since 2004.

The team heads to Oregon next week to play its first Pac-10 road games. The Cardinal begins the series against Oregon State Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Corvallis.