Recap: No. 24 Stanford Softball sweeps No. 5 Florida State
On Sunday, No. 24 Stanford softball defeated No. 5 Florida State 6-5 in 8 innings, getting a three-game sweep of the series. Zoe Prystajko (12-5) was the winning pitcher for the Cardinal in a relief role while Bella Dimitrijevic (5-2) was the losing pitcher for the Seminoles in a relief role. Stanford improves to 26-12 overall and 12-6 in the ACC while Florida State falls to 36-7 overall and 12-3 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Florida State at Stanford-Sunday, April 12th
“I mean, you can’t ask for much better, right?” Stanford head coach Jessica Allister said of getting the sweep. “I thought there were a couple things that were fantastic. One, I thought we had a great atmosphere in this stadium all weekend. Friday night was awesome and then when we had the weather delay we had and it’s pouring and it’s not until an 8:10 start, and then we walk out for first pitch and we still got a great crowd. Like, that’s a wonderful feeling and then today, again, just fantastic crowd, fantastic atmosphere. Really for all the support that came out and be able to give them, you know, a really good show, a really good result.
“And I think with all of that, I think all of the emotions that went along with this weekend, I’m really proud of today in particular. It would have been easy to be a little maybe emotionally empty. But we picked it up, probably in about the 5th inning, and dug deep and fought back and I think there’s a lot of good things we can take from this on all sides of the ball. And we’re going to celebrate this one for a little bit.”
Florida State would be the first team to strike in the top of the 1st inning as Bella Ruggiero hit an RBI single to right field with two outs to bring home Jaysoni Beachum, who scored from second base. Kennedy Harp then reached on a fielder’s choice to end the top of the inning as Ruggiero was out at second base. 1-0 lead for the Seminoles.
In the bottom of the 1st inning, Taryn Kern got things going with a single to shallow right field after which Emily Jones hit a sacrifice bunt to the infield to advance Kern to second base. Kyra Chan then hit an RBI single to left center field, bringing home Kern. That made it a 1-1 game.
River Mahler then singled to right field while Chan was called out at home for the second out. Jade Berry then doubled to right center to bring home Mahler after which Joie Economides singled to left field to bring home Berry from second base. Ava Gall then grounded out to first base to end the bottom of the 1st. 3-1 lead for the Cardinal.
Florida State would take a 4-3 lead in the top of the 4th inning thanks to a three-run shot from Isa Torres to left field, her 10th home run of the season. Alyssa Houston ended up having to finish the inning in the pitcher’s circle for Stanford, coming in for Anna Brewer, who had given up the home run and allowed all four runs.
With Prystajko now in for Stanford in the top of the 6th inning, Beachum hit a solo shot to deep center field, making it a 5-3 game. It looked like at this point the Seminoles finally might win a game in the series. 5-3 would remain the score going into the bottom of the 6th as Ashtyn Danley, the next batter, grounded out.
In the bottom of the 6th inning with one out, Kern hit a solo home run to deep left field, her 15th of the season. That made it a 5-4 game. After Jones got walked, Chan would ground out to second base, advancing Jones to second base. Mahler then singled to right center to bring home Jones, tying up the game 5-5. Berry then flied out to end the inning. In the 7th inning, neither team scored, keeping it a 5-5 game going into extra innings.
“Yeah, definitely,” Jones said of this having a playoff atmosphere. “I think just the way we kind of consistently battle and staying tough throughout the series, especially on Sunday, really shows kind of how gritty we were and how we can compete at the highest level.”
In the top of the 8th inning, Florida State was unable to get to second base. Shelby McKenzie singled to the infield, but would be out at second base on a fielder’s choice as Torres reached first base. And then Tores would be caught stealing second base for the second out. Beachum then struck out swinging as Prystajko delivered a clutch pitch.
In the bottom of the 8th, Kern would get walked to lead things off. She got walked on a 3-2 count after previously having a close call at the wall as a foul ball was originally called out before it was determined that the ball had hit the wall prior to the catch. It was a great at-bat by Kern. Jones then doubled to center field to advance Kern to third base. Chan then got walked to load up the bases.
“It was a great at-bat,” Allister said of Kern. “Staying in the zone, you know, Taryn does that as well as anybody. You know, she does not chase bad pitches. She gets deep in counts and you know, obviously that’s the walk that got everything going. So, fouling off good pitches, sticking with it. I’m unsurprised.”
“I think I was just trying to find a pitch I can get my hands on top of,” Jones said of her double. “And that was really it…Well, Jade’s a fantastic hitter. I think Jade has one of the best swings I’ve ever seen and she’s just an all-around one of the most consistent hitters. So I knew it was only a matter of time before Jade hits her, you know, classic low line drives.”
With the bases loaded, Mahler reached on a fielder’s choice as Kern was out at home. However, Berry, whose walk-up song is Michael Jackson’s Bad, had a Bad at-bat, singling to center field to walk it off as Jones scored. 6-5 Stanford won the game and got the sweep over No. 5 Florida State.
“I blacked out,” Berry said of her walk-off hit. “I don’t even know. I’m just so happy for my team. I think this is a huge gritty win for the team overall. But I was just going up there trying to help my team any way I can. River had a great at-bat, so I drew confidence off that. She was seeing it well. I mean, everyone saw a pitch pretty well. And they’re a great team, so it was a great team win overall…I think anybody in the lineup can score. I think our bench can score. Whoever it is in the dugout can score. I think that everyone here is super talented and they deserve to be here and it just proves that every single game, doesn’t matter who it is, they’re gonna score. We’re gonna come up in a big pressure moment and draw each other’s confidence throughout the game.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Allister said of her team coming up clutch. “And different people at different times that maybe have had like tough games up to that point and have stayed with it and stayed focused and played the game one pitch at a time. So, yeah Sheppard and then Jade obviously puts the big ball in the gap in the early inning and then struggled after that. She knew she was going to get the change up and she was ready for it. So, that’s how good teams win. They can score up and down the lineup. So, anybody has a bad day there’s somebody else there and I know that’s a team we can be.”
For Stanford, this is a huge win. To get a sweep over a top five team is about as big as it gets. Two of the wins came via walk off so it didn’t come easy, but they dug deep and found a way to get the job done. That speaks to the kind of team they are becoming. Getting healthy is obviously a huge plus.
“Well, I think I sound like a broken record. I’ve been saying that all season,” Allister said of getting healthy. “Like, we’ve been struggling to get to that point. And I’ve always said, you know, if we can get healthy and get hot, look out. And we’re heading that direction. I think even outside of like the healthiness, we’re starting to get people to swing it a little bit to the level that we think that they can and yeah, getting Alyssa back. That’s absolutely huge to the depth of the pitching staff. Getting really good innings from Ava Bulanti has been a game changer. So yeah, we want to get all the pieces going the right direction at the right time.”
“Yeah, I think it was huge,” Jones said of getting the sweep. “Florida State’s obviously a really good program. I think they were maybe undefeated in conference, but I think going out here and playing Stanford softball like we know how and like celebrating the micro wins and just competing as hard as we can really kind of hoping to do that against any opponent, but Florida State this weekend…Yeah, our lineup has so many different personalities, so many different skillsets. And kind of like you said, like, it’s really anybody’s day and I think that’s what makes it so fun to be on this team and like, having so much trust in your teammates.”
As for Florida State, this obviously really hurts. They were favored to win the series. To get swept is beyond a bummer. But hey, they fought all weekend long and Stanford simply found a way to make the plays needed to win the game. A couple swings go a different way and this could have been Florida State taking two out of three.
“Florida State is an amazing team,” Berry said. “They have a great coaching staff, great players, great pitching staff. You name it. They’re just an overall great team. So, for us to draw confidence off this series win, sweep is huge for us. I think that we’re a very confident team that is going through it a little bit sometimes, but just remaining confident, no matter who we’re playing going up knowing that we can win no matter the name, no matter the player, no matter the pitcher. Just believing in ourselves. Believing in each other.”
Up next for Stanford is a road game at Fresno State on Wednesday, April 15th. That will begin at 3:00 PM PT on Mountain West Network. Aside from that game and a road game at nearby Santa Clara, the rest of Stanford’s regular season games will be on The Farm. That is something they are super happy about.
“It’s so fantastic,” Allister said. “You know, our Cal series got moved to here. So we’re here for the next two weekends and then again, for Sac State on Senior Day Friday. So, we love playing at home. I think I probably referenced this before, but you know, the road trips that we’ve been on, you know, we enjoy them. We enjoy playing in other parts of the country and it also reminds us when we get home just how fortunate we are. So, we love playing in this stadium. We love playing in front of our fans and we are thrilled to be here for a little bit of a stretch.”
“I think today, just playing free and having fun,” Berry said. “Before the game, were’ sitting in the locker room, just like laughing and enjoying each other and I think that plays out on the field. Like, we enjoy being around each other and it allows us to be free in the box, be free in the circle, be free on the field, you name it. Just drawing off of that.”
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), & Bluesky: @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, IG, Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube, & Bluesky: @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
