Five different Stanford players scored in the first period and the top-ranked Cardinal parlayed that into an 8-5 victory over host California Saturday night in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest.
Melissa Seidemann and Alyssa Lo each scored twice for Stanford (6-0, 22-0), which clinched the top seed of the upcoming MPSF tournament and also clinched at least a share of the regular-season crown.
The conference tournament, to be held at San Jose State beginning April 28, determines the automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. Stanford and California, even if neither wins the tournament, have likely clinched berths into the national tournament to be held in Ann Arbor.
Kaley Dodson, Annika Dries, Lo, Seidemann and Pallavi Menon scored in succession to give Stanford the early advantage. The Bears never got any closer than three goals the rest of the way.
Softball
Jenna Rich had four hits and drove in three runs as the 11th-ranked Stanford softball team downed visiting Oregon State, 8-1, Saturday for its fifth straight victory.
The Cardinal (4-4, 29-8) go for the series sweep Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for noon.
Senior Ashley Chinn (14-2) earned the win after striking out four, allowing a run and walking one. Teagan Gerhart got the final five outs for her second save.
Stanford stole a season-high seven bases, three by Sarah Hassman, who had three hits and scored three times. Freshman Corey Hanewich also had three hits.
Women's tennis
Second-ranked Stanford clinched the Pac-10 regular-season title after beating host California, 5-2, Saturday in the finale.
Stanford (8-0, 23-0, 8-0 Pac-10) remains the only undefeated team in Division I after winning its 42nd consecutive match. The Cardinal have won or shared three of the past four conference titles.
Stanford, which hosts the NCAA men's and women's tennis championships this season, will learn where it fits into the NCAA bracket on Tuesday, May 3. The Cardinal has won 179 consecutive matches on its home court and that will be tested during the NCAA tournament.
Against the ninth-ranked Bears, the nation's second-ranked doubles team of Hilary Barte and Mallory Burdette edged the top-ranked team of Mari Andersson and Jana Juricova, 8-6, to help earn the doubles point.
Straight-set wins by Stacey Tan (6-2, 6-2 at No. 5) and Kristie Ahn (6-3, 6-0 at No. 4) gave Stanford a 3-0 lead before Nicole Gibbs clinched the win with a 6-2, 6-4 decision over Anett Schutting.
Stanford hosts the USTA Junior All-Star Team in an exhibition match next Friday at 1:30 p.m., and then prepares for the Pac-10 Championships.
Men's gymnastics
Alex Buscaglia earned his first NCAA individual title by winning the horizontal bar competition as a part of the night that saw six Cardinal gymnasts earn a total of nine All-American honors.
Buscaglia had been the NCAA leader on horizontal bar nearly the entre season and once again dominated the event, scoring a 15.750 to win by almost a half of a point.
He completes an outstanding season in the event where he was also the Pan-American champion this past summer.
Buscaglia was not finished on the night, however as he also earned and All-America honor on the parallel bars by placing sixth with a score of 14.400. Buscaglia also competed on vault, finishing 10th with a score of 15.050. The senior finishes his career with six All-America honors to his credit.
Tim Gentry earned three All-America honors to push his career total to seven as he finished in the top 8 on rings, vault and floor. Gentry's top finish came in the still rings as he placed fourth with a score of 15.300. He was also sixth on the vault (15.700) and eighth on the floor (15.150).
Other returning All-Americans to add to their totals were Josh Dixon and Eddie Penev. Dixon placed fourth on the floor with a score of 15.500 to earn the seventh All-America honor of his career.
Penev tied for fifth in the same event with a score of 15.400 to earn his third career All-America honor. Dixon also competed in the horizontal bar, but tied for ninth with teammate Ryan Lieberman with a score of 14.400.
Redshirt sophomore Cameron Foreman and freshman Chris Turner also nailed All-American honors.
Foreman performed his parallel bars routine for a score of 14.800 to finish third to earn All-America status.
Lieberman also competed in the event, but placed 10th with a score of 14.100, just one year after winning the NCAA title in the event.
Turner was fourth on the pommel horse with a score of 15.000 to earn the first All-America honor of his young career.
Men's volleyball
Brad Lawson and Spencer McLachlin combined for 44 kills to lead fourth-ranked Stanford to a 25-23, 26-28, 25-20, 25-16 victory over host Pacific in a regular-season finale on Saturday night.
Stanford (15-7, 19-8) opens the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament by hosting Long Beach State next Saturday at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.
Evan Barry recorded a career-high 63 assists as the Cardinal to a .377 hitting percentage.
Baseball
Stanford was victimized by another sparkling pitching performance from Oregon State, dropping an 8-1 decision to the Beavers Saturday in a Pac-10 contest.
The 17th-ranked Cardinal (3-5, 16-11) looks to salvage the final game of the series Sunday when the teams meet for a 1 p. m. start.
The ninth-ranked Beavers (7-1, 26-7) clinched their third consecutive conference series and own their eighth overall.
Stanford managed four hits in Friday night's 1-0 loss. Oregon State's Josh Osich (5-0) limited the Cardinal to two hits over six scoreless innings before turning the game over to the bullpen in the seventh.
Stanford lost for the fourth time in five games following a successful run of seven wins in eight games.
Jordan Pries (4-3) went the first six innings, giving up six runs on nine hits to take his second straight loss.
Sailing
Stanford is defending its home seas following the first of two days of sailing at the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference's team championships, producing a 7-1 record amongst the seven competitors.
Stanford had to comeback after trailing after round 1, in which the Cardinal went 5-1, with the one blemish to undefeated UC Irvine. The Anteaters though faltered halfway through round two, going 0-3 to finish at 6-3 after the first day, while Stanford is a perfect 2-0 in round two and 7-1 overall. Hawai'i caught up to the second place Anteaters with a 3-0 record in round two after a 3-3 start.
UC Santa Barbara and USC are batting for the fourth and final spot for the final four race for the championship, both finishing the three-boat, head-to-head race at 4-5.
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