ASU loses early lead, falls to No. 7 Washington in first Pac-12 game of the year

(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)

After four mostly successful tournaments, with a midweek non-conference doubleheader sandwiched in between, Arizona State traveled away from Farrington Stadium for the first time this season to face No. 7 Washington and get Pac-12 Conference action started.

The Sun Devils managed to stay level with the Huskies for a large portion of the game. It was only after the ejection of head coach Megan Bartlett that the ASU pitching faltered, and against a fierce opponent, the bats couldn’t pick up the arms.

Arizona State’s (14-8) first road game and first conference game of 2024 couldn’t have come against an opponent much tougher than the Huskies (17-2). Washington came into Friday evening’s matchup with an eight-game winning streak, its only two losses on the season coming against the then-No. 1 Oklahoma and then-No. 8 Oklahoma State. Despite facing a tough top-10 opponent, the Sun Devils managed to hold their own for most of the game. Arizona State eventually fell though, with the final score in Seattle ending up at 5-2.

The Huskies were coming off two run-rule victories in five innings, but their offense didn’t have that same type of success against senior right-handed starting pitcher Deborah Jones.

Going into the fifth inning, Jones had limited Washington’s high-powered offense to two runs on eight baserunners, striking out three batters along the way.

After a leadoff walk in the fifth inning to graduate second baseman Jillian Celis, Bartlett pulled Jones from the game.

Senior righty Mac Osborne replaced Jones in the circle. Unfortunately for Arizona State, the move to the bullpen was one that Washington responded well to.

The first batter Osborne faced, junior shortstop Rylee Holtorf, singled through the left side of the infield to put runners on the corners. A batter later, Holtorf stole her fourth base of the season to put two runners in scoring position.

And scored they did when junior third baseman Kinsey Fiedler blooped a single into center field to break the 2-2 tie and give her squad the lead it held onto.

Arizona State’s call to the bullpen wasn’t made by head coach Megan Bartlett, due to the fact that she had been ejected during the middle of the inning after arguing an out call at first base that didn’t get overturned.

Graduate shortstop Alesia Denby had struck out swinging but tried to make it to first on the dropped third strike. Denby was thrown out, but when Arizona State asked the umpires to review the play, the replay showed that Bartlett at the very least had a compelling argument.

The call stood, ending the half-inning for Arizona State instead of loading the bases with two outs. It was an opportunity squandered for the Sun Devils when they could’ve rallied to take the lead. Instead, after the fifth it was their opponents with the advantage.

The Huskies added on an inning later in the sixth. Graduate first baseman Brooke Nelson doubled down the left field line to lead off the inning, and her pinch runner, freshman Jing Gardner, eventually came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Celis.

The three runs at the end of the game by Washington was a continuation of two unanswered runs scored in the second. Those runs were scored when Nelson blooped a single over Denby into center to score Fiedler along with sophomore catcher Sydney Stewart.

Those two runs tied up the game, taking away Arizona State’s early lead that it would never get back.

It was graduate center fielder Kelsey Hall who smacked a no-doubter over the left-center wall, her second of the season, in the first inning to give ASU its early lead. The team added to the lead an inning later after an RBI groundout from senior catcher Sara Kinch that scored sophomore left fielder Yannixa Acuña.

Acuña’s double one-hopped off the wall and was one of the best hits all night from the Sun Devils against sophomore right-handed starter Ruby Meylan.

Meylan pitched the entire game and settled in nicely after a rocky first two innings. ASU did continue to get on base against her, but the lineup couldn’t string anything together and bring anyone in to score. Meylan finished the night with nine strikeouts, giving up seven hits and a walk.

Arizona State will need to have a short memory and put this loss behind it while focusing on timely hitting and getting out of jams if the Sun Devils want to bounce back in this three-game set against Washington.