(Photo: Liesl Babicka/WCSN)
After ending the perfect season of the No. 1 Washington, No.13 Arizona State softball fell 7-0 in the masterpiece of Taran Alvelo on Sunday.
The Huskies (29-1) handed the Sun Devils (23-4) their first shutout loss of the season in front of packed house at Farrington Stadium. Alvelo went the distance, only allowing THREE hits in seven solid innings of work. The junior right-hander controlled the command of her pitches and changed speeds effectively as the Huskies ace struck out a game-high 11 Sun Devil batters.
“Alvelo has good stuff,” head coach Trisha Ford said. “We swung at her pitches. When we chase, she becomes quite effective, which I thought we swung at too many of those balls.”
Senior pitcher Breanna Macha got the start for ASU and struggled early. Washington tacked on their first four runs of the series in the second inning, including a two-out two-strike bases-clearing double by Huskies first baseman Kirstyn Thomas.
“The Huskies are a good hitting team,” Macha said. “You have to tip your cap to them. They are going to hit our mistakes. I need to work on limiting my mistakes.”
After giving up a two-run blast to Huskies left fielder Julia DePonte in the seventh inning, Macha was pulled after 116 pitches, finishing with nine hits, seven runs, two earned runs, a walk and three srikeouts
Mistakes were made not only in the circle, but also around the diamond. The Sun Devils committed a game-high four errors ending a streak of 10 consecutive games without recording a defensive blunder.
“We made a lot of errors. It’s something that we need to work and come back and not worry about it,” sophomore shortstop Jade Gortarez said. “Just wipe it off and be ready for tomorrow. I still have no doubt in this defense.”
The Sun Devils and Huskies square off in the final game on Monday as a victor will be crowned at Farrington Stadium. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. MT.
“For me, I’m really excited to see how we respond,” Ford said. “We took a punch, but we are going to get back up and get after it tomorrow.”
