After dropping their first two games of the weekend, the Stanford softball team collected its first Pacific 10 conference victory Sunday with a 3-1 victory over the host Washington Huskies.

The win broke a five-game losing streak to start the Pac-10 season for the Cardinal, including losses to UCLA on Friday and to the same Huskies on Saturday.

After cruising through the non-conference season with a record of 33-2, the Cardinal bats had slowed in recent weeks. On Sunday, however, Stanford got a clutch two RBI double in the top of the fourth off the bat of freshman first baseman Melissa Koutz to give it the lead for good.

The Cardinal tacked on an insurance run an inning later when senior left fielder Tricia Aggabao hustled home from third on a Caitlin Noble wild pitch.

Starting her third game in a row, junior Missy Penna gave Stanford the great start it needed, giving up six hits, one walk, and one run while striking out 11 to get her 23rd win of the season.

The Cardinal was led at the top of its lineup by Aggabao and sophomore center fielder Alissa Haber, who picked up two hits apiece.

The win was of vital importance to the Cardinal, especially after having fallen to the 24th ranked Huskies only a day earlier.

On Saturday, Washington pitcher Aleah Macon controlled the often-potent Stanford offense, allowing just four hits and six walks while fanning 12 Cardinal batters in leading the Huskies to a 4-1 victory.

Washington jumped on Penna immediately, scoring three runs on three hits in the first inning, and the Huskies never looked back from there.

No Stanford player had more than a single hit, while Washington designated player Ashlyn Watson managed three hits and two RBI on her own.

Penna did not have her best stuff, as she went only 4.1 innings allowing six hits, four walks, and four runs en route to her sixth loss of the season.

Stanford’s weekend likely would have been very different had it managed to upset the number one-ranked UCLA in Los Angeles on Friday.

The Cardinal dropped the game 3-1, but it was not for a lack of chances.

After Haber led off the game by driving an Anjelica Selden 1-2 curveball over the right field fence to give the Cardinal the lead, Stanford was unable to push another run across the plate.

Stanford shot itself in the foot multiple times, stranding eleven base runners and committing three errors in the field, leading to two of the Bruins’ runs.

The Bruins tied the game in the bottom of the second after Stanford right fielder Anna Beardman mishandled a Samantha Camuso single, allowing Gionna DiSalvatore to score from first.

UCLA didn’t waste time in taking the lead for good, striking for two runs just an inning later.

Jennifer Schroeder, sister of Stanford outfielder Michelle Schroeder, led off by reaching on an error by second baseman Shannon Koplitz. Three batters later second baseman Amanda Kamekona doubled home pinch runner Lauren Mirabal to give the Bruins the lead. Disalvatore would follow with a single to cap the scoring for UCLA.

The Cardinal squandered good days from Beardman who went two for three, and Haber who did not make an out, going one for one with the homerun and three bases on balls.

The rest of the team managed just a lone single by designated player Erin Howe.

Penna pitched well yet again for the Cardinal, going the full six innings, allowing just four hits and three walks, along with just one earned run and five strikeouts.

Stanford has managed just six runs in five Pac-10 games, which is the main explanation for its 1-5 start in conference. The hitters will have to pick up the slack in the upcoming weeks if Stanford wishes to compete for the competitive conference title.

Hopefully for the Cardinal, that resurgence will begin Friday at 7 p.m. as the Beavers of Oregon State come to Stanford. That game will be followed by a pair of afternoon matchups on Saturday and Sunday between the seventh ranked Cardinal and the Oregon Ducks.