The No. 15 Stanford softball team salvaged part of a tough road trip on Sunday, beating No. 12 UCLA 4-1, after dropping a 3-0 decision to the Bruins the day before and a 7-0 loss at No. 13 Washington on Friday.

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Alvin Chow

Sophomore Missy Penna at last month's game against Arizona

Sophomore right-hander Missy Penna (23-9) got yesterday’s win for the Cardinal (32-16-1, 7-10-1 Pacific-10 Conference) with a complete-game three-hitter. UCLA (34-15, 10-8) got its only run off Penna on an RBI groundout in the bottom of the fourth inning; with one out, the bases loaded and a 3-0 Stanford lead, coach John Rittman chose to trade the Bruin run for a sure out, and it paid off.

Penna collected a come-backer from the next batter and threw to first to end the inning. Only one UCLA batter got as far as first base — on a fifth-inning walk — for the rest of the game.

Stanford’s lead came courtesy of Penna herself and freshman center field Alissa Haber. With junior first baseman Erin Howe on second after a single and a sacrifice by freshman catcher Rosey Neill, Penna hit a single to right field, scoring Howe and giving Stanford a 1-0 in the second inning. Penna was 2-for-3 on the day.

After the Cardinal stranded a pair of runners in the top of third, Haber came through in the next inning. After batting in the lead-off spot for several games, Haber was moved to third place in the order by Rittman, in light of her recent 1-for-19 slump. The move paid immediate dividends. Haber hit a double and three singles to go 4-for-4, and her fourth-inning single to right field scored Penna and senior left fielder Jackie Rinehart.

Haber’s two RBI were her first in seven games, when she drove in Stanford’s only run against Washington on Apr. 22.

Junior third baseman Michelle Smith drove Haber home after her double in the seventh inning to provide an insurance run for the Cardinal.

The Stanford offense just did not have the answer for the opposing pitching in their previous two games. Washington’s sophomore pitcher Danielle Lawrie limited the Cardinal to just three hits in 26 at-bats, while striking out 11. Meanwhile, Penna’s occasional control problems were troubling. She gave up only five hits, but she also walked four and hit six batters, including two of the three runners that were on base when the Huskies’ Ashley Charters hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to blow the game open, 4-0.

Another bases-loaded situation arose in the fifth, with only slightly less damage resulting. Penna hit the first two batters before being replaced by junior Becky McCullough, who walked another batter before giving up a pair of singles and hitting another to bring the game to its final score, 7-0.

Stanford had to travel from Washington to UCLA for the next day’s game, but the team left its offense behind again in a 3-0 loss to the Bruins. The Cardinal had four hits in 26 at-bats on Saturday, an improvement over the previous game, but still nothing to write home about.

Penna held UCLA off for the first five innings, but she finally capitulated in the bottom of the sixth. The Bruins’ Tara Henry led off the inning with a single and was sacrificed over to second base before Jaisa Creps singled her home. The next batter, Lisa Dodd, hit a two-run homer to cap off the scoring for the game. The Cardinal never advanced a runner past second base.

Stanford returns to the field on Tuesday night in a non-conference game at UC-Davis before wrapping up the Pac-10 season at home against Oregon and Oregon State next weekend.