Cal Softball: Bears Lose to No. 8 Stanford on Overturned Call

Cardinal defeats Cal by one run in eight innings in the first game of weekend series

Cal players were walking off the field, assuming they had recorded the third out in the bottom of the eighth of a tie game at Stanford Friday night.

But eighth-ranked Stanford requested a video replay of a close play at the plate, and after considerable time veiwing the replays, the umpires overturned the call, giving Stanford a 2-1 victory in the first game of a three-game series.

Here's what happened:

With two outs, the score tied at 1-1 and Stanford's Aly Kaneshiro on first base in the bottom of the eighth inning, Cal pitcher Haylei Archer threw a 2-2 pitch to Allie Clements.

Clements hit a line drive that hit off the top of the left-field wall.  Kaneshiro tried to score all the way from first, and the relay throw to Cal catcher Kacey Zobac got there just as Kaneshiro was sliding head-first into home plate.

The umpire, who was in perfect position, called Kaneshiro out.  Cal players started to walk off the field, but returned to their positions when Stanford head coach Jessica Allister requested a video review of the call.

Ultimately, the umpires overturned the call, ruling Kaneshiro safe, although there could be debate about the decision after viewing the replay.

Here is the video of the play:

The Bears' record fell to 29-13-1 overall and 6-9-1 in the Pac-12, while Stanford improved to 33-9 and 9-7.

Cal had tied the game in the sixth inning on Tatum Anzaldo's RBI double, one of just two hits the Bears had against Stanford freshman NiJaree Canady. Canady gave up just those two hits and the one run in her 7 1/3 innings, but saw her ERA rise to 0.21. Her record stayed 9-0 as Alana Vawter (15-5) pitched two-thirds of an inning and got the win.

Archer gave up five hits and just one earned run but took the loss to drop to 9-6.

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