(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)
After a high-intensity extra-inning win on Thursday, the No. 11 Arizona State Sun Devils (30-5, 11-0 Pac-12) got back to their usual exciting and explosive offense, beating the Utah Utes 12-2 (20-19, 4-7 Pac-12) in just five innings of work.
After a one, two, three top of the first by junior pitcher Lindsay Lopez, the offense started off right away with a lead-off bomb by junior shortstop Alynah Torres. After the homerun, ASU would get two more baserunners off of a walk and a single by senior right fielder Yanni Acuna and freshman first baseman Cydney Sanders. Acuna would later be driven in by a single from junior center fielder Jazmine Hill.
This would make the score 2-0 for Arizona State after just the first inning. Another hot start, just like in Thursday’s game where the Sun Devils scored five runs in the first inning alone.
“We scored five runs yesterday, in the first inning (so) we can’t let up because they (Utah) can hit,” Torres said after another good offensive first inning.
At the start of the next offensive half inning for ASU, Torres got on base again due to an error by Utah’s junior shortstop Haley Denning. This then led to a Sanders double which scored Torres, followed by a long double to center field by Hill, which scored Sanders to make the lead 4-0.
After the third hitless frame for the Utes, courtesy of Lopez’s dominance in the circle, the Sun Devils were back up hitting just as fast as they had gotten on the field defensively.
After two outs in the bottom half of the third, it looked like ASU was about to be back on the defensive side of the ball, but instead, the offense exploded.
With two runners on (graduate student catcher Jessica Puk and sophomore third baseman Savannah Price), Torres stepped back up to the plate and proceeded to send an absolute bomb over the scoreboard in left-field, extending the lead to 7-0.
The offense wasn’t done there. Just two batters later Sanders stepped up to the plate with Acuña on first, due to a hit-by-pitch, and connected for an absolute moonshot over the center-field wall extending the lead to 9-0 ASU.
“I know our team is really good at hitting,” Sanders said. “We like to say pass the bat, so if the first person hits, the next person gets a hit etc.”
Torres had a very similar response when asked about the powerful offense, saying, “ I think we just need to capitalize on the runs and keep going.”
The very next inning for ASU was very much the same. Keep the foot on the gas pedal.
That was shown with a pinch-hit two-run home run by senior utility player Mailey McLemore and a pinch-hit RBI single for redshirt freshman infielder Kristiana Watson.
These two scores would put the ASU lead at 12-0.
Arizona State head coach Trisha Ford commented on the whole team’s offensive connection by saying, “We’re gonna need everybody at some point in time,” and “I thought we were consistently good in the box tonight.”
“I think our team is just so well connected right now, we feed off each other’s energy and keep rolling in our at-bats,” Torres said after everyone on the team got in on the offensive action.
The offense wasn’t the only thing rolling for this Sun Devils team as Lopez was absolutely dominant in her start, going for four and two innings, allowing just two earned runs on four hits.
The first hit for Utah had only come in the fourth inning and their only two runs had come late in the fifth inning by a two-run homerun from graduate student catcher Katie Faulk
“I thought Lindsay did a tremendous job,” Ford said. “ Obviously the last inning we had a little mishap, but that’s gonna happen. Our pitchers are working at a good pace.”
Even with the team riding on such a great hot streak so far, Coach Ford explained and realized the importance of hard work day in and day out.
“Winning is always fun, but we don’t really talk about it. Tomorrow is a new day, Utah is gonna come out, they’re gonna punch, they’re gonna throw the kitchen sink at us and we’re just gonna stay focused on our path.”
Torres explained that regardless of where they are in the season, they are the team to be beaten
“Once we’re going, we’re going. That’s the scary part about us. We’re hard to stop.”
With just one more game left against Utah and a series at Stanford in the coming week, this Arizona State softball team is looking to end the season on a high note and continue their success into the postseason.
