(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)
No. 13 Arizona State took a trip up north to Eugene, Oregon this past weekend to face their rival Pac-12 opponents, No. 17 ranked Oregon. The three-game sweep from ASU continues to show how incredible of a season this team is having.
Friday (9-3 ASU)
Game one started off with a bang for the Sun Devils as junior shortstop Alynah Torres took a pitch deep to left field in the first at-bat of the game giving her squad an early 1-0 lead. After a one-two-three bottom of the first for the Ducks, ASU was back in the second doing what it does best, hit.
It started with another junior second baseman Jazmyn Rollin missile to right field to extend the lead to 2-0. The offense didn’t stop there, after two singles and a fielder’s choice, the lead was now 3-0 which caused Oregon to switch their starting pitcher to their fifth-year lefty Jordan Dail.
Even with the pitching change, Arizona State kept their foot on the gas pedal by having the bases loaded and scoring two runs back to back on a hit-by-pitch to senior outfielder Yannira Acuña and then a walk to freshman first baseman Cydney Sanders making the lead 5-0 going into the bottom of the second.
ASU freshman pitcher Mac Morgan was in the circle to start this game and shut Oregon down for the first four innings of the game which was huge to the Sun Devil’s defense with how dominant she pitched.
The fourth inning for ASU was another offensive showing that couldn’t be stopped, tacking on three runs after clutch hits from Jazmyn Rollin, sophomore outfielder Emily Cazares, and senior outfielder Makenna Harper making the lead 8-0.
Oregon was finally able to get some offense in the fifth inning scoring three runs off of a two-run homer from junior Vallery Wong and a solo shot from senior infielder Rachel Cid making the score 8-3. Rollin still wasn’t done yet as she added yet another home run to the game, giving her squad a 9-3 lead in the sixth inning that remained the final score.
Saturday (9-4 ASU)
The Ducks came into game two with a fire in them as they scored four runs in the second and third inning after both teams went scoreless in the first inning. The Sun Devils seemed to be looking slow after being down early in the game, but yet again Hill added another bomb to her tally of the weekend making the score 4-1.
For the remainder of the fourth and fifth inning, ASU got production from sophomore pitcher Alison Royalty (who relieved junior pitcher Lindsay Lopez in the fourth) and Oregon with freshman righty Stevie Hansen. In the top of the sixth inning, the Sun Devils were tired of losing and decided to take the game into their hands, starting with a single by sophomore infielder Savannah Price and then a home run by Alynah Torres, cutting the Ducks’ lead to just one.
Later in the inning after several walks, hits and outs, senior outfielder Makenna Harper was walked to to tie the game at four. This was followed by two massive singles by grad student catcher Jessica Puk and senior utility Mailey McLemore, which scored three runs combined for the squad, making it a 7-4 lead.
The Ducks would remain quiet on offense for the remainder of the game, while the Sun Devils kept adding on with a two-run bomb from Hill, her second of the game and fourth of the series.
Sunday (8-6 ASU)
In the final game of the series, the Ducks started off hot again, scoring two runs in the first off of a one-run double and a fielder’s choice by junior catcher Terra McGowan and junior outfielder Ariel Carlson.
The Sun Devils remained quiet for the first two innings, with both teams adding more offensively in the third. In the top half of the third, the bases were loaded as Hill stepped up to the plate. She hit a monster grand slam to make the score 4-2 ASU, but Oregon would tack on a run from a McGowan single to make the score 4-3 coming into the fourth.
Both teams again kept the fire going headed into their halves of the fourth inning with ASU scoring three runs off of a bomb from freshman first baseman Cydney Sanders while Oregon only added one more run off of a sac fly from Rachel Cid to make the score 7-4. Oregon’s offense kept going as they would add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run bomb from senior infielder Allee Bunker to cut the lead to just one, but this would be the last offensive impact of the game for the Ducks. ASU would add one more run via a Puk single in the top of the seventh.
The Sun Devils are looking to keep their incredible 17-game winning streak alive as they will take on another Pac-12 foe, the Utah Utes, in a three-game series next weekend.
