(Photo:Sun Devil Athletics)
No. 8 Arizona State welcomes in the No. 23 Stanford Cardinal in the Sun Devils’ first Pac-12 home series of the season.
The Cardinal have played in Tempe already this season during the Kajikawa Classic in early February, but this will be their first matchup with the Sun Devils this year.
Last season, ASU took two out of three in Palo Alto, Calif., but the Sun Devils are coming off of a disappointing series against the Oregon State Beavers. The highlighted issue was inconsistent hitting as the Sun Devils left 11 runners on base in the series opener, and then followed that game with an 11-run outburst the next day.
Despite the spotty production from the plate, pitching remains a strength for ASU. Senior pitcher Dallas Escobedo had double-digit strikeouts in her appearances, including a season-high 15 strikeouts in the series opener. Fellow senior Mackenzie Popescue was dominant in her appearance as well, tossing a complete game shutout, her third of the season.
Stanford is coming off a series against California where they dropped two out of the three games.
The Cardinal is led by sophomore catcher Jessica Plaza and freshman infielder Kylie Sorensen. Plaza leads the team with four home runs, and Sorensen is currently hitting a team-high .398 with a .627 slugging percentage.
The series will kick off on Saturday, March 22 at 7 p.m. in Farrington Stadium.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
