SANTA CLARA, Calif. – After spending two weeks at home, Santa Clara softball heads back out on the road for two weeks. This week they play at the Stanford Invitational Saturday and Sunday. On Sat., March 7 Santa Clara plays Stanford at 11 a.m. and Minnesota at 1:30 p.m. On Sun., March 8 they play Stanford at 12:30 p.m. Last week Santa Clara went 2-2 at home with two wins vs. Howard and two losses to No. 17 Washington. The Broncos are now 5-14 on the season.
"We know we're a good team and there a lot of learning lessons that come from playing a good Pac-12 team like Washington," said Santa Clara head coach Lisa Mize. "As a team, you know that you have to play flawless defense and you need to manufacture runs in order to stay with them. What we saw and learned is that good teams capitalize on little mistakes that you make It resonates with our team that we need to play that kind of caliber of ball, where we capitalize on opponents' mistakes and have our pitchers keep us in the game. This team has the talent to do that."
As for picking up two wins against Howard, Mize talked about building the schedule to pick up some confidence-boosting wins.
"Those are good feeling wins, wins that we are supposed to get and that is why I built the schedule like that," explained Mize. "The expectation was to capitalize on scoring a lot of runs and get some players in that haven't had a lot of time. It is a good confidence-booster for everyone on the team."
Santa Clara is 5-14 on the season and 0-3 on the road and 2-6 in neutral games. The Broncos are hitting .279 (144-517) as a team with 28 doubles, two triples, and 14 home runs. They post a 5.05 ERA with 60 strikeouts and 57 walks in 123.1 innings. They have been outscored 104-73.
Breezy Bernard leads Santa Clara in hitting with a .375 (21-56) batting average with 10 RBI, four runs scored, a home run, and seven doubles. Casandra Padilla is batting .340 (18-53) with a team-high 12 runs scored. She has hit three home runs and six doubles to go with nine RBI. Gianetta France is tops on the team with six home runs and 17 RBI. She is hitting .311 (19-61) with four doubles and 10 runs scored. Ellie Fisher leads the team with a .463 OBP and 10 steals. She is batting .321 (17-53) with a triple, two RBI, and 11 runs scored.
Ciara Gonzales has thrown a team-high 58.0 innings over 16 games and 10 starts with four complete games. She is 5-6 with a 3.26 ERA and 24 strikeouts against nine walks. McCall James has appeared in 10 games with four starts and one complete game. She has tossed 31.0 innings with 16 punch-outs. Briana Rios has thrown 21.1 innings over nine appearances and four starts with seven strikeouts. Micaela Vierra has fanned 13 in 13.0 innings in eight games and two starts.
"Both teams are really great programs," said Mize of Stanford and Minnesota. "We have recently talked about how to prepare for these kinds of teams and said that it will be a tough series. There will be only three games, but it will be really tough. If our team plays flawless, good softball and our pitchers come out and hit their spots to keep us in the ballgame, then the potential is there for us to beat them. Our attitude is that we aren't going in just to play against these high-caliber teams, but we are going in to win."
Stanford is 12-10 on the season and 4-2 at home. The Cardinal are hitting .309 (190-615) as a team with 30 doubles, nine triples, and 16 home runs. They post a 4.17 ERA with 68 strikeouts and 87 walks in 141.0 innings. They have outscored their opponents 147-117.
Kayla Bonstrom leads Stanford with a .464 (32-69) average, five home runs, 19 RBI, and 12 runs scored. She has added six doubles and a triple. Hanna Winter is hitting .333 (21-63) with 14 runs scored and five RBI. Jessica Plaza has hit five doubles, one triple, and two home runs to go with 12 runs scored and 12 RBI. She is hitting .333 (17-51) on the year.
Haley Snyder has thrown a team-high 75.1 innings over 21 games and seven starts. She has thrown one complete game and has one save while striking out 28 with 50 walks. Madi Schreyer leads the team with a 2.09 ERA in 50.1 innings. She has appeared in 15 games and made 14 starts with a complete game and a save. Schreyer has struck out 38 and walked 27.
Minnesota is 14-4 on the season and 4-0 on the road and 10-4 in neutral games. The Gophers are hitting .351 (174-496) as a team with 34 doubles, five triples, and 26 home runs. They post a 2.66 ERA with 152 strikeouts and 31 walks in 113.0 innings. They have outscored opponents 123-56.
Hannah Granger leads the team in hitting with a .500 (24-48) batting average. She has hit two home runs and three doubles to go with 14 RBI and five runs scored. Kaitlyn Richardson is hitting .472 (25-53) with three home runs and a team-best 20 RBI. She has added three doubles and scored 10 runs. Sara Groenewegen leads the team with five home runs and has added four doubles, seven runs scored, and 15 RBI.
Groenewegen leads the team with a 0.56 ERA and an 8-2 record over 11 games and nine starts. She has thrown eight complete games, including three shutouts while striking out 106 and walking nine. Kylie Stober and Nikki Anderson have both seen time in the circle with 22.1 and 27.2 innings pitched respectively. Stober has struck out 24 against 12 walks while Anderson has fanned 21 with seven walks.
