It was a must-win tourney in Miami, Fla. for the No. 8 Stanford softball team, and the Cardinal delivered with a perfect 5-0 record, capturing the FIU/Adidas Invitational title. Pitching made the difference for Stanford, as the team extended its season-high win streak to 11 games.

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Masaru Oka

Sophomore Missy Penna has racked up an impressive 10-1 record to go along with her 0.82 ERA and 99 strikeouts this season. Penna put forth a fantastic performance in Miami, earning four wins on three shutouts over four games.

The Cardinal entered the tournament with a vaunted offense, but still, Stanford (14-2) struggled to score runs at times in Florida. But sophomore Missy Penna and junior Becky McCullough answered in appropriate fashion, allowing only two runs over five games. Penna was named the tournament MVP after recording 38 strikeouts and four wins — three of which were shutouts — in four games. The tournament was quite a homecoming for Penna, who is a Miami native. McCullough, meanwhile, picked up her fourth win of the year with a complete-game effort against Syracuse.

Head Coach John Rittman recognizes Penna’s excellence in the circle this season.

“Missy is definitely off to a great start this year,” Rittman said. “She’s always had the ability to be a dominating pitcher at this level. Certainly she’s pitched very well this year, and the coaching staff feels that she has made a lot of improvements from last year. If Missy continues to work hard and continues to make adjustments, then she’s got the ability to do a lot of things.”

The Cardinal is fortunate to have two strong pitchers in Penna and McCullough; Rittman described each as “very capable” of helping the team make it to the next level.

On the season, Stanford has outscored its opponents 101-23 and has out-hit them 135-51 as well. One of the major reasons for its offensive success is the performance of the freshman class, which is responsible for half of the Stanford homerun tally on the season. Even so, a deep and timely hitting lineup has been a common theme in the Cardinal’s success throughout the season.

“Honestly, we have a great lineup from top to bottom,” Rittman said. “We have a very good freshman class that is playing very well right now. But we have a lot of contributions from a lot of different players in the lineup, and that’s enabling us to win these games. We’re not relying on just one or two players — it’s a lot of people in the lineup coming through at different times.”

When the runs weren’t coming in, Stanford turned to Penna. Two of the Cardinal’s five wins last weekend were 1-0 decisions reminiscent of close losses to Northwestern and Texas earlier in the season. In those close decisions, Penna’s complete-game shutouts and a bit of luck allowed Stanford to emerge victorious.

“Good teams find ways to win close games,” Rittman said. “Certainly when you win a 1-0 game, you feel a bit lucky because things can go against you in a close game. I think our team is finding ways to win those close games and that’s a sign of a good team.”

The Cardinal opened the tournament on Thursday with a narrow, 1-0 win over Florida International, which entered the tournament with an 0-10 record. Freshman Alissa Haber extended her hit streak to 10 games and Penna struck out 14, allowing two hits. Stanford’s next match was on Friday was a 10-0 rout over Texas State(8-7), as junior Michelle Smith went 3-3 and drove in five runs. The Cardinal earned another 1-0 shutout victory, this time over Purdue to start Saturday’s competition.

It was the fourth game of the tournament before an opponent was able to score against Stanford, as senior Jackie Rinehart notched five hits to lead the Cardinal to a 9-2 victory over Syracuse. Stanford then closed out the tournament with an 8-0 trouncing of Marist in the title game.

Now, with its 11-game win streak and a great deal of momentum, the Cardinal is set to travel to Fullerton, Calif. for the Worth Classic. Stanford will have a rematch against Northwestern after a 3-1 loss at the Kajikawa Classic. But Rittman doesn’t want to look that far ahead yet.

“We play so many games that we can’t afford to look ahead at Northwestern,” Rittman said. “We’re going into this weekend first and foremost thinking about the first day with Cal Poly and Cal State-Fullerton, who are both very good teams. Our main focus is to keep it one game at a time and take each opponent separately. We can’t afford to overlook anybody.”

Rittman is, however, optimistic about his team and its play right now.

“Our biggest concern right now is staying healthy with our roster size and getting contributions from everybody,” Rittman said. “Certainly, pitching plays a major role in our success, and so far this season, they’ve proved that they are doing the job. Our number one goal is to improve each weekend, and if we stay healthy and continue to work hard, then we should stay the course.”