(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Led by a 4-of-4 day and a cycle from outfielder Kindra Hackbarth, the Arizona State Sun Devils rolled through the New Mexico State Aggies defense in a 17-1 victory on Day 2 of the ASU Invitational on Friday.
Arizona State trailed very briefly to start things off. Freshman pitcher Abby Andersen gave up two doubles, the second an RBI for Nikki Butler. A day after walking off against James Madison and nearly doing so against Michigan, ASU focused on getting runs on the board early after the Aggies scored.
“One of the things on our goal chart is to punch back,” ASU coach Trisha Ford said. “That’s what we think is one of our kind of cores in order to be successful. When you get punched, do you punch back? I think they did a great job tonight. ”
Hackbarth took almost no time to punch back, hitting the home run portion of her cycle in ASU’s very first at-bat. She capped it with a single in the fourth inning, one that got her all the way home after two Aggie errors. It’s another major milestone for one of the most important players on the ASU roster.
“I’ve always wanted to retire a jersey or become an All-American,” Hackbarth said. “As long as I am producing for my team that’s really all I can ask for. ”
Hackbarth has been producing for ASU in even more ways than she did in her sophomore season. Her batting average sits at .438, which if it holds would be a substantial improvement from an already great .368 last season. On top of that, Sunday’s dinger was her sixth of the season, already passing the five she hit in all of 2018.
“It’s not just natural,” Ford said. “She comes to work. She watches film on her own. You’re starting to see her mature as a player.”
While Hackbarth’s night was one for the history books, she wasn’t the only one with a productive day in the batter’s box. ASU had 12 hits in 26 total at-bats with four home runs. Shortstop Jade Gortarez took the very first pitch she saw over the wall to score three. In the bottom of the fourth, Bella Loomis ripped a two-run deep ball that bounced off the center-right light post.
For Loomis, it adds to a run of strong games at the plate, one of many hitting success stories in the Devils’ lineup this season. Ford focuses on pitch selection with her hitters and repeatedly mentioned assistant coach Jeff Harger as a driving force, calling him “the best.” Harger came with Ford to ASU from Fresno State and was promoted to assistant before the 2019 season.
“Our players are really starting to understand what he’s trying to get out of them,” Ford said. “They’re hunting good pitches. If you look at our selection at the plate, they’re looking for one pitch.”
While it will be overshadowed by the dominant offensive attack, Andersen kept the Aggies’ from rounding the bases in her other four innings. She finished with a complete game, giving up five hits and the one run with five strikeouts and three walks, picking up her fifth win. While she did load the bases in the second inning, she made an impressive groundout to get out of trouble.
Andersen has been put in a big spot in her first months at ASU. While there are growing pains, Ford sees that Andersen is learning from each experience.
“I saw some things, but she’s able to recognize them sooner,” Ford said of the trouble in the second inning. “After that, she settled in nicely. I’m seeing some positive progression. I think we could do a little bit more, and she would be the first one to tell you that.”
After playing tightly with two ranked opponents and putting on an offensive clinic on Friday, ASU softball is on an upswing. Gortarez said the team is playing “a better brand of softball” over the last two weekends. The Devils have picked up two ranked wins in that timeframe and have scored about 9.5 runs per game over their last eight outings.
With three games left before Pac-12 play begins, including tomorrow’s 7 p.m. contest with Lehigh, ASU has a few more days to fine tune that better brand before the conference season kicks in.
