ASU Softball: Mejia’s pitching, Hackbarth’s bomb help Devils top Lehigh 4-1

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

The Arizona State Sun Devils continued a successful weekend of the ASU Invitational on Saturday, topping the Lehigh Moutain Hawks 4-1 to improve to 18-7 in the non-conference season.

In contrast to Friday’s 17-1 victory, ASU and Lehigh played a scrappy, back-and-forth contest Saturday. Neither team scored in the first two innings and both picked up one run in the third. While the Devils would pull away later on, they saw good lessons in having to hang on for a few frames before the bats really picked up.

“We’ve faced a lot throughout the year,” ASU catcher Maddi Hackbarth said “For our team, it’s just go in there, get your pitch, hit it. Don’t miss the cookie.”

Hackbarth certainly did not miss the cookie on a two-out swing in the bottom of the fifth. With Morgan Howe on base, she fired off one of the longest home runs in recent memory at Farrington, hitting the adjacent gymnastics/wrestling practice facility.

“It felt good,” Hackbarth said. “I got all that ball, and I’ve been getting a lot of information from all my at-bats. I’m feeling good being right three, but it’s just little things. Getting all that ball and all that barrel felt good. ”

Hackbarth’s deep ball gave ASU some insurance. Combined with a 2-of-3 night with two extra-base hits and an RBI from senior outfielder Morgan Howe, the Devils pushed through a couple challenging innings. Home plate umpire Richard Cowan called a very strict strike zone, drawing occasional disagreement from fans of both teams.

While acknowledging that figuring out an umpire’s zone is part of the process, ASU’s players know their coach wants them to think about how they can work within it.

“It’s imperative for umpires to understand what their strike zone is,” ASU head coach Trisha Ford said. “It’s also more important for [players] to not let that affect them. You can’t let things that you think are going affect the outcome.”

Starting pitcher Samantha Mejia did her part to make sure ASU came out on the right side Saturday. The only run Lehigh scored, outfielder Ashley Rabago reaching home on a single, was unearned. Mejia pitched a complete game, giving up five hits and one walk.

“I think she made big pitches when she needed to,” Ford said. “She kept them off balance with her changeup, which is something she has been working on.”

Mejia’s line shows how this ASU pitching staff differs from those in previous seasons. Whereas pitching corps in years past relied on a high volume of strikeouts, Mejia and her teammates put more balls in play. With a veteran defense behind them, ASU has the personnel to make that work, meaning a major priority for the pitching staff is keeping balls from crossing over the wall.

Despite being a transfer, Mejia does have past playing experience with several of ASU’s key players, which has helped her get comfortable in the maroon and gold.

“She played with the Hackbarths and Mo Howe, ” Ford said. “There was a lot of familiarity and I knew she would fit in right away because she was part of what we were starting to build at Fresno.”

With both hard-earned wins and offensive explosions over the ASU Invitational, the Sun Devils are starting to show their mettle at the right time. They will have another game against Lehigh on Tuesday, their final outing before Pac-12 play opens. Before that, they’ll face South Dakota in the final tournament game of the season on Sunday at noon.