April 12, 1997
McCart Leads No. 21 Cal to Sweep of Stanford in Softball
BERKELEY, Calif. - Senior first baseman Melanie McCart tied her own school record
with her ninth home run of the season and broke the Cal mark for RBI
in both a season (49) and a career (148) to lead the 21st-ranked
Golden Bears to a doubleheader sweep of Stanford Saturday on
Strawberry Field. Cal (25-18, 8-8) beat the Cardinal (19-19-1,
5-11), 10-2 and 8-7.
In the opener, McCart went 4-for-4 with six RBI. She had a
three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and RBI singles in
the second, third and fifth innings. The Bears scored three times in
each of the first three innings to take a comfortable 9-0 lead.
Sophomore pitcher Holly Yost scattered three hits and struck out
five to pick up the win.
In the second game, Cal took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on
an RBI single by third baseman Jessica Parker. Stanford then scored
three times in the third inning, keyed by a two-run single by left
fielder Marcy Crouch.
The Bears answered with five runs in the bottom of the third,
sending 11 batters to the plate. After right fielder Kirsten Drake
reached on an error, McCart singled and Yost walked to load the
bases. Parker then singled home Drake and second baseman Lisa Iancin
singled home McCart. Left fielder Karen Bonini brought home another
run with a ground out, followed by RBI hits by shortstop Katie May
and catcher Megumi Takasaki.
Stanford, though, tied the contest at 6-6 with three runs in the
top of the sixth inning. Michelle Acosta led off the inning with a
solo home run. Later, with the bases loaded, a throwing error by May
allowed two more runners to cross the plate.
Cal regained its advantage in the bottom of the inning. After
Drake walked, McCart doubled to right-center field to drive home
Drake, and she came around to score herself on a Stanford throwing
error.
The Cardinal tallied one more run in the seventh inning, but
Yost coaxed Stanford's Shane Anderson to ground out to end the game.
McCart finished the doubleheader with 49 RBI on the year,
breaking the Cal single-season record of 47 set by Jenny Ackley in
1995. McCart also has 148 career RBI, which now ranks ahead of
Olympian Gillian Boxx, who had 146 RBI from 1992-95.
Pacific-10 Conference Softball Result
Strawberry Field, Berkeley, CA
Game 1
Stanford 000 200 0 -- 2 3 3
California 333 010 X -- 10 16 0
Crouch, Schulman (5) and Wiginton. Yost and Takasaki, Kilgariff (3).
W -- Yost (17-13). L -- Crouch (10-7). HR -- McCart (Cal), Schneider
(Stanford).
Game 2
Stanford 003 003 1 -- 7 11 4
California 105 002 X -- 8 10 1
Blevins and Wiginton. Yost and Takasaki. W -- Yost (18-13). L --
Blevins (8-12). HR -- Acosta (Stanford).
Records
Stanford 19-19-1 (5-11 Pac-10)
California 25-18 (8-8 Pac-10)
