ASU Softball: No. 21 Sun Devils’ slow start thwarts efforts against Missouri State

(Photo: Reece Andrews/WCSN)

A battle against the clock was a problem before the first pitch was thrown. The Utah-Cal Baptist game started late, forcing the start time of the game between No. 21 Arizona State and Missouri State to be delayed by one hour. In addition to the late start, the Bears had a hard end time of 3:30 p.m., forcing the game to last just five innings.

Starting in the circle for Arizona State was sophomore Marissa Schuld. The right-handed pitcher entered Sunday’s duel with a win in her previous outing. Schuld started hot, striking out the side to start the game.

Manning the rubber for MSU was senior Steffany Dickerson. The righty faced off against an ASU lineup that saw success throughout the Kajikawa Classic. Entering today’s bout, the Sun Devils were hitting .317.

Dickerson’s strong pitching performance halted ASU’s bats as she put away the first two batters. Junior shortstop Alynah Torres found a gap in left field for a single, which would mark the only hit for Arizona State.

“She came into relief the other day; she did a great job and did a good job again today,” Arizona State assistant coach Jimmy Kolaitis said. “She just commanded her pitches working in and out. We weren’t aggressive enough at the plate, fell behind in some counts, and she was able to mix in the changeup and just kind of kept us off balance. We came in trying to be a little bit more aggressive against her and we just didn’t execute very well.”

Schuld had a strong first inning but would fall off once the second inning started. Missouri junior right fielder Tess Weakly managed to poke a single to left field, giving Missouri State their first base runner of the afternoon. Weakly would advance to second after senior first baseman Madison Hunsaker singled to left field, and senior catcher Alex Boze would load the bases after she was hit by a pitch.

The Sun Devils found themselves in a tough situation as there was only one out with the bases loaded. Sophomore left fielder Ellie McCoy would double to left field, which scored one. Arizona State senior left fielder Makenna Harper would make a play on the ball and fire a cannon to the plate. The throw was on time to throw out Hunsaker.

ASU came up and went down in the bottom half of the inning, letting the momentum stay with MSU. Missouri State immediately took advantage of the momentum as senior shortstop Daphne Plummer tripled to center field. During the next at-bat, Schuld would throw a wild pitch which allowed Plummer to score.

Even with different hitters and a new inning, Arizona State’s results remained the same – a 1-2-3 third inning.

“Just to be aggressive,” Kolaitis told reporters what the message was in between the fourth and fifth innings. “Right, let’s continue to fight continue to get better, and try to make some adjustments. think the biggest thing was to be just aggressive.”

Schuld would enter the circle for the final time in the fifth inning. She forced McCoy into a groundout but was pulled once Missouri State’s sophomore center fielder Skyler Shaw stepped into the box. Freshman Mac Morgan would relieve Schuld and strikeout her first batter. It appeared the Bears would be unable to get some insurance, but back-to-back errors would yield MSU two runs and a 4-0 lead.

Arizona State will return to action on Thursday, Feb. 17 against Minnesota in the Littlewood Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

“Execute the approach that we’ve brought in. “We didn’t do that [today],” Kolaitis explained on ASU’s slow start. “So, we came in with little passive and a little slow. We’ve had some slow starts this year. That’s something that we need to focus on as we move into next week and the rest of the season.”