ASU Softball: Late Long Balls by Sun Devils lead to doubleheader sweep of Cardinal on Saturday

(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)

It was not pretty by the Sun Devils, but ASU prevailed from behind late. Fielding errors, Stanford’s laser pitching, and hitting almost were too much to handle for Arizona State as they fell behind early. However, the Sun Devils’ late-game heroics helped secure the come from behind victories in both doubleheader games.

The Sun Devils desperately needed these wins after falling to Stanford and getting “Smacked in the face,” according to head coach Trisha Ford.

“I think as a team, we answered back today, which is really what was important to me,” Ford said. “We had other people step up and get us a team win.”

As mentioned by Ford, ASU did not rely on the usual suspects for game one of the doubleheader as the main factors came from different spots in the order allowing for the Sun Devils to rally a 10-6 victory over the Cardinals.

To understand the glory, one must first understand the woes, and ASU had many of them at the beginning of the game. There were sloppy fielding errors as ASU was not able to secure the ball, leading to opposing runs. The pinnacle of these mistakes was in the first inning as fifth-year outfielder Kindra Hackbarth botched a tough play near the wall, bouncing the ball over the fence to give Stanford the early 3-0 lead.

“Kindra didn’t have her best day,” Ford said. “All these game experiences that they are getting that are making me have gray hair are going to pay off.”

Fifth-year catcher Maddi Hackbarth immediately made her sister’s error null and void in the bottom of the same frame, as she hit a two-run bomb towards center field to cut Stanford’s lead 3-2.

The pitching matchup started as a freshman vs. freshman duel with ASU pitcher Allison Royalty and Stanford’s Regan Krause. However, both pitchers endured early rough patches. While Ford and ASU elected to stay with Royalty, Stanford quickly went to the bullpen for senior pitcher Maddy Dwyer. After that, the hitting started to become a rarity for both sides.

“Royalty did a good job today,” Ford said. “It is important to start working that off-speed and make sure you become a chameleon, can’t look the same every single time.”

The lack of pitching depth has been the main storyline for the Sun Devils this season, presenting itself as a possible problem. To combat that, the Sun Devils need to show a variety in the type of pitches thrown, and Royalty shined her repertoire Saturday. The freshman went five innings allowing four hits and three strikeouts, not allowing Stanford to get into a groove.

The same could be said for the Cardinal’s pitching, as Dwyer presented herself as a problem for the Devils. Entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Dwyer had only allowed a single run on five hits with six strikeouts. The Sun Devils, throughout the entire game, were extending at-bats and fighting for some consistency.

Their fight was won in the bottom of the sixth as Dwyer, well north of 100 pitches, was starting to show fatigue, and the Sun Devils flexed their power. With the bases loaded, sophomore shortstop Alynah Torres hit an absolute bomb high towards the center field wall, brushing the leaves of palm trees and landing in the home run territory to give ASU its first lead 8-4.

“My mentality is see ball hit ball,” Torres said. “It’s a relief, I go day by day, pitch by pitch and pretend every day is opening day. I don’t like to dwell on the past and play in the present and win ball games.”

If Torres put the nail in the coffin, then junior outfielder Yanni Acuna hammered the nail more profoundly into the coffin as the very next pitch saw her hit a moon shot to right field to practically end the game in the Sun Devils favor. One inning later Stanford saw a little rally, but ASU was able to corral the Cardinal effort and end the game 10-6.

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The next game, ruled as a non-conference game, still carried the same intensity as the first one. Pitching was again a vocal point as ASU had fifth-year pitcher Cielo Meza in the circle, who has struggled as of late, but produced a more well-rounded performance.

“Cielo came out today and looked much better,” Ford said. “I thought she had a good swing and misses, looked good on the mound, and I think she needed that more than anybody.”

Meza did strive with some luck as in the second frame, Stanford outfield graduate student Montana Dixon hit a ball that bounced on top of the wall in center field and zipped back into the field of play, turning a possible three-run homer into an RBI double.

The rest of the way through was a great outing showcasing Meza’s skill set going nearly four innings, allowing five hits and two runs. Meza made sure not to enable Stanford to get into a groove.

“[Meza] was battling with a little bit of stuff. I think she took a break and a moment to gather her stuff and came back ready to go,” Ford said. “I’m really excited and really actually happy for her to come out and compete on the mound.”

Again, similar to the first game runs became a rarity for ASU as Stanford sophomore pitcher Alana Vawter made her return from her dominant start on Friday, cutting through batters. With an ERA under one entering this game, Vawter presented herself as a daunting challenge for the Sun Devils.

Vawter struck out three of the first six batters she faced. The start of the game hinted at a possible encore performance by the Cardinal ace. That was until the third inning, as M. Hackbarth continued her historic season with a hard-hit double to the gap in center field to drive in two runs to give ASU an early 2-1 lead.

“Our mentality today was honestly screw up in the box and get a good pitch,” Torres said about Vawter. “Yesterday, we were not swinging at good pitches, so overall I think we stuck to the plan, going for the pitches we wanted and laying off the changeup.”

Even when sticking to the game plan, the task of scoring on Vawter proved to be a difficult one. Simultaneously, ASU’s pitching endured a rough patch as Meza allowed a solo homer in the fourth before being replaced by Royalty. The rough patch snowballed to the next inning as Royalty allowed a deep, long arching two-run homer to left field, landing on the Gymnastic Training Facility far behind the left field wall.

Again ASU found themselves down late again as they entered their side of the fifth inning, looking to respond, and respond they did. As the Sun Devils slowly and strategically started to crawl back into this game. It began with a sac fly by M. Hackbarth in the fifth to cut it 4-3, and it carried on with junior outfielder Makenna Harper, who clutched up to hit a solo shot to tie the game in the sixth.

“It’s the Harper gene,” Ford said. “She is one of the most competitive kids I have ever coached. I think she is someone who is starting to learn and dissect the game, and she figures it out.”

Harper has had a clutch gene this season as she has made critical hits in previous games against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 UCLA, and now Stanford to tie the game entering the seventh.

The last frame was a quick one, thanks to sophomore outfielder Jazmine Hill who, on the first pitch of her at-bat, rocketed a line drive just over the wall to send ASU and its fans home happy with a 5-4 win.

“It was a lot of excitement and a relief,” Hill said. “My biggest thing this week was to work on the mental side of the game, and the coaching staff and some of the girls helped me with that.”

Vawter slowed down as fatigue started to play with her throwing 136 pitches, which factored in the last three innings as ASU scored three runs.

It took everything for the Sun Devils to come from behind late in the two games to win; both excitingly show the team’s resilience. Even after those two crucial victories, the series is still up for grabs tomorrow since the second of the doubleheader does not count as a Pac-12 game leaving the series tied 1-1.

The grudge match is Sunday afternoon, so there is no time to celebrate for the Sun Devils as they look to carry the momentum from Saturday towards the series climax.

“Tomorrow is going to be a barn burner,” Ford said. “We’re going to throw the table, the house, everything at them tomorrow and leave everything on the field.”