ASU Softball: Juarez strikes out 10 as Devils shut out South Dakota

(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)

Led by strong pitching and three home runs, the No. 14 Arizona State Sun Devils earned their third consecutive shutout victory on Tuesday, defeating South Dakota 8-0 in five innings.

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Giselle “G” Juarez continued her recent string of dominant performances. Just two days after setting a career-high with 13 strikeouts, Juarez retired 10 batters via the strikeout in just four innings of work. All of ASU’s first eight outs of the game came courtesy of strikeouts from Juarez.

“I kind of just stay focused on doing my thing,” Juarez said of her approach to the game. “Focusing on every pitch and taking it pitch by pitch. I think that’s the biggest thing when it comes to rolling in that sense.”

Juarez overwhelmed almost every batter she faced after issuing a leadoff walk to start the game, her only one of the night. The southpaw’s fastball proved just about unsolvable, and Juarez played the edges of the zone as well as she has all season. As ASU head coach Trisha Ford tells it, while she may call pitches from the dugout, it’s Juarez whose decisions have led to these strong outings.

“G is always calling her own game, and that’s what I always tell the pitchers,” Ford said. “I’m suggesting things but then you have to decide if that’s what you want to throw or not. We’ll do pregame prep so we’ll watch hitters and they mark where they want to throw it.”

Juarez, the team and ASU fans had a bit of a scare in the top of the fourth inning, when Juarez took a line drive hit to the right arm. Not only did she stay in the game after a brief test of her arm, she struck out the next batter she faced. However, with a 4-0 lead, Ford decided to give the sophomore a break after that inning.

Senior Breanna Macha came in to relieve Juarez, shutting down the Coyotes in the fifth frame and helping ASU earn the run-rule victory.

“I think the game was under control at that point in time,” Ford said. “[Macha] was going to come in anyway tonight regardless. I thought it was a good time for her to come and I thought we were going to put up some more crooked numbers.”

ASU’s offense kept pace with the strong performance of its pitching. Shortstop Jade Gortarez sent a two-run home run over the wall in the bottom of the first inning, followed soon by a solo shot from freshman first baseman Danielle Gibson.

From that point on, ASU seemed to have total control of the game on both sides. Gibson’s day would get even better, as she found the yard again with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, putting ASU on the cusp of a run-rule victory.

“I’ve been seeing the ball pretty well at practice,” Gibson said. “I’ve just been swinging, feeling good and it’s carried over to the games. When we take reps every single day it’s easy to see the ball well.”

Another freshman to make an important contribution was Denae Chatman, whose sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth scored the game winning run for ASU. The two are part of a freshman class that has added critical depth for ASU, a fact not lost on Ford.

“I want them to make the lineup hard for me, and they are starting to do that,” Ford said.

Between the depth, the home-heavy schedule, and strong play in many areas of the game, the Sun Devils have a lot working in their favor, and the results are there.

ASU is 17-2 and has won 16 of 17 games, including seven straight. That will all prove even more important if the Devils want to succeed in a Pac-12 conference that looks as tough as ever.

Before they get there though, the Devils have a home non-conference schedule to finish, starting Wednesday when they take on Georgetown.