(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
After two home tournaments, the Arizona State Sun Devils will travel to California over the weekend for the Mary Nutter Classic, their first games on the road in 2019.
Arizona State Softball is off to a strong sitting at 8-2 through the first 10 games of the tournament season. Most recently, the Sun Devils hosted the Littlewood Classic where they went 4-1, their only loss coming at the hands of the Florida Gators 7-2.
The 13th-ranked Sun Devils will rely heavily on the play of starting pitcher, Samantha Mejia, who is now 4-0 since the start of the season, posting a team-leading 2.36 ERA. Mejia is a junior transfer from Bakersfield, California, who has found her footing early in the maroon and gold. With four starts under her belt, the new Sun Devil has become the leader of an all-new pitching rotation this season.
“Since we are all new, we are all just stepping into it together. Not really knowing… coming into Pac-12 play, that’s helpful because we are all in it together,” Mejia said.
At the Mary Nutter Classic, Arizona State will open up play against No. 20 Oklahoma State on Thursday at 11 a.m. Oklahoma State will be one of the Sun Devils’ biggest tests thus far this season, as the Cowgirls come in at 7-3 overall on the season. Led by pitcher Gabby Sprang, who is posting a 2.61 ERA through three starts, Oklahoma State hails from one of the toughest conferences in the nation in the Big 12, and Arizona State will look to open up tournament play strong against them. ASU will also play Texas Tech, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Bethun-Cookman and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
“It is a really dynamic tournament,” ASU head coach Trisha Ford said. “We have some really good competition, it will be a good taste of where we are headed. I am excited to get a little pulse of what we look like.”
Ford believes this tournament will be the first true test for the sophomore infielder Bella Loomis and junior outfielder Kindra Hackbarth. Hackbarth was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Wednesday. Hackbarth recorded 11 RBIs and 3 runs during the Littlewood Classic to now lead the Pac-12 with 15 runs on the young season.
“She has been pivotal for our program, a great leadoff kid… she puts in the extra work and is just fun to be around,” Ford said.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Arizona State will have played 16 games in the first three weeks of the season, but the Sun Devils believe they are fully prepared to battle any fatigue playing six games in three days throughout this next weekend.
“In our offseason, we did a lot of workouts and I feel like it prepared us for whatever was to come this season,” Mejia stated.
Arizona State will be put to the test again this weekend, as they will travel away from the familiarity of Farrington Field and will look to prove themselves among some of the nation’s best teams. While the Women’s College World Series is still many months away, this weekend will be the first test to see how Arizona State stacks up against some opponents they could face come that time.
