Stanford rallies to reach super regional
The Stanford softball team’s offense — and pitcher NiJaree Canady — arrived just in time Sunday to extend the Cardinal’s season at least another week.
After losing its first game against Cal State Fullerton, Stanford rallied behind Canady to beat the Titans 4-2 and win an NCAA doubleelimination regional on the Cardinal campus.
Stanford (46-14) is the No. 8 national seed in the 64-team event and will host No. 9 seed LSU in a best-of-three super regional, the first game of which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday. This is the third consecutive year the Cardinal — who reached the Women’s College World Series last season — have reached a super regional.
The Cardinal entered Sunday’s second game facing the possibility of being the highest-seeded team to lose a regional over the weekend, having been overwhelmed 8-1 by the Titans in the day’s opener.
But in the nightcap, Stanford rallied from a two-run deficit to score four runs in the third inning and keep the Titans in check from that point on.
Canady, the national leader in ERA this season at 0.50, allowed one earned run to Fullerton (36-17) and finished with a six-hitter in which she struck out 13 and didn’t issue a walk. It was the 18th time this season Canady recorded at least 10 strikeouts and pushed her total to 292.
The sophomore was the winning pitcher in all three of the Cardinal’s regional wins, during which she threw 19 innings, allowed only nine hits and two earned runs. She struck out 36 and walked one.
The third inning swung the tide in Stanford’s favor. Trailing 2-0, the Cardinal began their rally when Taryn Kern tripled to right and scored on Kyra Chan’s RBI fielder’s choice grounder to second. After a Fullerton pitching change, Ava Gall drew a walk and both she and Chan scored on Aly Kaneshiro’s double to the fence in left-center that gave Stanford the lead.
Two batters later, Kaneshiro scored on River Mahler’s single to center.
In the opener, the Titans scored in four consecutive innings — including three times in both the fourth and sixth — to win their third straight in the regional. They lost their opener Friday, 1-0 to Mississippi State, but won twice Saturday — beating St. Mary’s 6-1 and the Bulldogs 7-0.
Cal State Fullerton pounded out 12 hits, 10 of which came against Stanford starter Regan Krause. Leadoff hitter Megan Delgadillo went 3for-3 to push her season average to .419.
Stanford had seven hits, but its only run scored on a sacrifice fly in the second inning.
Briefly: LSU (43-15) won all three games in the regional it hosted, beating Jackson State 5-0 on Friday, Southern Illinois 4-1 on Saturday and the Salukis again, 9-0 on Sunday — its 15th shutout of the season. Cal went 1-2 in that regional, with both of its losses to the Salukis. … The Tigers are making their 10th super-regional appearance, their first since 2021.