Arizona State nearly completes comeback attempt after offense and pitching awaken

(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)

TEMPE – From a bee invasion that caused a two-hour delay to nearly completing a 10-run comeback, Arizona State softball had a wild Saturday night.

Arizona State (18-20, 2-12 Pac-12 Conference) had a rollercoaster game Saturday evening against Utah (24-17, 6-11 Pac-12). The Sun Devils looked like a team that was lost prior to the bottom half of the fifth inning with a quiet offense and poor pitching. From that point on, however, the Sun Devil offense exploded for nine runs and fell just short of the Utes’ 10.

The offensive party for ASU was started by an unlikely source in freshman second baseman Libby Walsh, who lit a fire under her team with a two-run home run, her third long ball of the season.

“(If Walsh) can put both sides of the ball together (she’s) gonna have a nice career here,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “Because the one thing about Libby, she is feisty. She is gritty, and she’s from Boston, so she’s a spicy little thing, and she just does not back down. So no matter how good or how bad the day is you know Libby is still going to give you every bit of what she has. … If Libby can offensively give us some nights like that she can be, as she gets older, a middle of the lineup kid for us.”

The next two hitters after Walsh were graduate left fielder Audrey LeClair and graduate center fielder Kelsey Hall. Both reached base and brought up graduate pinch hitter Jordyn VanHook, who launched one over the wall in right-center field. Graduate shortstop Alesia Denby also got in on the party, driving in the sixth run of the inning on a single.

Five of the six runs the team scored occurred when Utah’s starter, senior left-hander Sarah Ladd was still in the game, and all six were credited to her, turning her first four beautiful innings into a performance to forget with the inclusion of the fifth.

“We did force (Ladd) to throw a lot of pitches tonight, and that was by design, and there’s a staff where you have mainly two arms. … If we swing early in the count it’s pretty much a mistake,” Bartlett said. “Try to get deeper in counts, make them throw a lot of pitches, take some walks, and then of course, by the time you work that system, so it’s slow early on, but by the time the third at-bats, (you) tend to see some big hits.”

The system certainly worked, and by the time the seventh inning rolled around the Sun Devils were only one run away from tying the game up, the score sitting at 10-9.

Arizona State loaded the bases with two outs, bringing senior third baseman Kayla Lissy up to bat. It was a high-pressure scenario for Lissy who wasn’t having the best day at the plate, going into the at-bat 0-for-2 on the day, with a sacrifice fly the previous inning being her only positive offensive output.

Lissy quickly fell behind 0-2, and on the third pitch of the at-bat she tried to check her swing, but she went around, ending the game and the Sun Devils’ comeback.

Arizona State had its chance to tie or even take the lead an inning prior, but poor base running from sophomore right fielder Tanya Windle turned what could have been just a weak popout from Denby into a double play as she got doubled up at first.

Singles from Hall and Windle, as well as Lissy’s aforementioned sac fly, had already brought in three runs in the sixth, and more could have been on tap if it weren’t for the double play.

Still, the Sun Devil offense made the game a close one, but freshman right-handed pitcher Meika Luappe was the one who kept it close.

Lauppe ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning after coming into the game in relief of starter, graduate right-hander Marissa Schuld, in the fourth. Lauppe gave up a double to center field that cleared the bases, but bad luck had brought those runners aboard in the first place. A catcher’s interference, an infield single to shortstop, and a bunt single loaded the bases prior to the double.

Lauppe ended up getting out of the fifth inning with no earned runs despite those three runners, as well as junior first baseman Kaylah Nelsen who hit the double, coming across to score.

Across the next two frames, Lauppe only allowed two runners to get on base, allowing the offense to catch up, a stark contrast to the early innings of the game where Schuld was responsible for giving up six earned runs in three innings pitched.

Two leadoff singles in the fourth after giving up a two-run home run in the third inning drove Schuld out of the game, but the first inning of work was the most disastrous for her.

Schuld gave up four hits including a two-RBI double and also allowed a run to score on a fielder’s choice in the first two-thirds of the inning. However, the game was then paused for two hours and four minutes due to a swarm of bees that had taken a liking to the field, specifically the netting of the backstop.

Schuld’s first inning of work could’ve gotten much farther away from her if not for the break in play that allowed her a chance to settle down.

“Immediately it certainly calmed everybody down right away,” Bartlett said. “Marissa started the game and they started (to) make some hard contact, I think the game really honestly just sped up on her, so (the delay) certainly gave her a moment to breathe.”

Consistency is key in everything, but especially sports, and Saturday was anything but consistent with the offense and pitching only showing up for half of the game. Arizona State needs to be consistent Sunday to avoid the sweep to Utah.

“We certainly have to find a way to put all three pieces together,” Bartlett said. “It seems to be like the days we’re lights out on the mound we can’t seem to string enough hits together and then, tonight you pretty much have all the offense you should need, and can’t seem to stop them, so just got to keep them battling.”