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Although Florida is set to take on Loyola Marymount, the Stanford Cardinal will play Long Beach State in the night game in Palo Alto. Stanford is the No. 9 seed in the NCAA tournament and is hosting its first regional since 2011.
The Cardinal is 40-13 on the year and its only losses are to Top 25 ranked teams with exception to Cal Berkeley. Long Beach State is 31-21 on the year and are on an eight game win streak.
Led by Freshman
Freshman River Mahler is Stanford’s leading hitter, recording a .389 batting average in the regular season. The offense begins with her and she’ll look to generate momentum for the other hitters in order to score runs. In the circle, NiJaree Canady leads NCAA softball with an ERA of .49 and has been named a finalist for the TUCCI/NFCA Freshman of the Year. Her pitching has been a difference maker for The Cardinal all year.
https://twitter.com/StanfordSball/status/1658990712145473536?s=20
Long Beach State Faces Challenge
After winning the Big West conference for the 10th time, the Dirtbags will make their 26th NCAA tournament appearance.
https://twitter.com/LBSUSoftball/status/1657907070203760644?s=20
Like Stanford, Long Beach State contains multiple young players who are still trying to figure out their roles. Head coach Kim Sowder talked about the challenges and adjustments early on in the season.
If Long Beach State is going to beat Stanford, their pitching is going to need to continue to be a strong suit for the team. They also have quite a bit of speed on the basepaths as they continue to break the school’s stolen base record. Although they don’t have a lot of power, the team has found ways to score runs in a crafty way.
Game Time
The two teams will matchup at 9 p.m. in Palo Alto and the winner will face either Florida or LMU. Although the Gators are the underdog in the regional, head coach Tim Walton has the most postseason experience, and Stanford, LMU and Long Beach State will look to halt the Gators’ postseason success.
