(Photo: Tyler Rittenhouse/WCSN)
G Juarez threw six innings worth of softball before her no-hitter broke in the seventh inning when Alyssa VanDerveer hit a single into centerfield. With the southpaw’s dominance in the circle Friday night, the Arizona State softball team claimed a 5-2 win over South Carolina.
Friday’s victory marks the first win for the Sun Devils in the 2018 Super Regionals, but Juarez wasn’t the star gem despite throwing six innings without a hit from the Gamecocks.
“We executed our game plan, this team is special, and they have the ability to beat team in a multitude of ways and I think they showed it again tonight,” said ASU head coach Trisha Ford. “We laid down bunts when we needed to, took extra bases when we needed to…we have to beat a team base running, base running will win or lose you ball games.”
The Sun Devils struck early in the game with a single to left field from Taylor Becerra. Morgan Howe followed Becerra by hitting a triple into the left and centerfield gap to allow Becerra to touch home.
A 1-0 lead for ASU wasn’t enough as Danielle Gibson leadoff with a single that slipped by the first baseman into right field. After a 39-day drought of homeruns, Jade Gortarez blasted Dixie Raley’s pitch into right centerfield.
Gortarez’s two-run homerun gave the Sun Devils a 3-0 in only the second inning. ASU continued offensive pressure on Raley throughout the game.
“In the box, all of us, in this point of the season it’s not too many mechanical things with our swings, it’s little mistakes,” said Gortarez. “We’re all focusing on getting a good pitch and hitting a strike and swinging hard.”
Inning by inning Juarez kept the scoreboard filled with zeros for South Carolina.
“It (the offense) gives me a lot of comfort,” said Juarez. “It allows me to just throw my game, focus on me and knowing that they are going to back me up with their offensive support.”
With two back to back singles from Howe and DeNae Chatman in the third inning, head coach Beverly Smith decided to relief Raley of her duties and replace her with Kelsey Oh.
Oh faced off against Marisa Stankiewicz and Gibson to conclude the inning without any more damage from the Sun Devil offense.
Defensively, Kindra Hackbarth started of the fourth inning with a diving catch in right field after what looked to be a single from Mackenzie Boese. Juarez’s work in the circle moved the inning along, almost identical to the others.
Oh had a long and difficult bottom half of the inning after facing seven of the nine hitters for ASU. The struggle began with an infield single from Gortarez. Maddi Hackbarth bunted, but ended up on first due to an error from first baseman Krystan White.
Skylar McCarty put down the bunt, but the ball rolled past third baseman Jana Johns. Gortarez departed from third and hit home plate to give ASU a 4-0 lead. McCarty was safe at first and pinch runner Ashley Moss was tagged out at third.
The scoring continued with Howe’s single to left field in between the grass and dirt that brings McCarty home for a 5-0 lead over South Carolina.
In the final two innings, the Sun Devil offense was limited, but the damage had already been done. South Carolina didn’t feel that the game was over just yet.
After Juarez got an ovation from the Farrington Stadium crowd when the no-hitter broke, Kennedy Clark stepped into the batter’s box. Clark blasted a two-run home run into right field to give the Gamecocks their own two runs of the night.
“Getting something going in the last inning was critical, the first goal was to break up the no-hitter going into the seventh,” said Smith. “Our offense is tough, but we have to tip our hat to the pitcher tonight she did a great job.”
The final three batter’s Juarez faced she struck them out, tallying for eight strikeouts on the night. A total of 11 hits were accounted for the Sun Devils and ending the game with gleaming defense that didn’t give up a single error.
Even though ASU claims the first win of the series, the Gamecocks will come out Saturday night to continue their road to Oklahoma City with a win to tie the series. Game two of the Tempe Super Regionals will begin at 6 p.m. at Farrington Stadium.
“It’s still one whole win away, you have to take it pitch by pitch, out by out, inning by inning,” said Howe.
