(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
No. 7 Arizona State softball wildly took two of three from Oregon State this weekend at OSU Softball Complex in Corvallis, Oregon.
Due to weather implications, ASU (33-5) and OSU (21-17) played the first two games in a doubleheader on Friday and finished the series on Sunday.
The Sun Devils won the first game 10-1 with an offensive outburst. The Beavers responded with a 2-1 gem in the game two. But, to close out the series, ASU defeated OSU 2-1 in a four-hour, 15-inning contest that had plenty of rain and emotion on the field.
The Sun Devils won their third consecutive Pac-12 series of the season against the Beavers and remain on top of the Pac-12 standings.
Game One: Sun Devils 10, Beavers 1
With an electric offense and a phenomenal pitching performance from Arizona State’s ace, the Sun Devils run-ruled the Beavers 10-1 in five innings.
Coming off her first career no-hitter against BYU last week, sophomore G Juarez pitched in the first game. The lefty earned her 16th win of the year and threw her 14th complete game while striking out seven Beaver batters.
ASU sparked on offense early and often as they opened with a three-run spot in the top of the first inning. Junior Morgan Howe knocked in the first run with an RBI single, succeeded by a two-RBI double by junior Skylar McCarty.
Juarez continued her dominance with five strikeouts in a row in the second and third innings, quieting down the OSU fans in the stadium.
The Sun Devils broke the game wide open with a four-run fourth to stretch the ASU lead to 8-0. The top of order came through with two hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored in the inning.
ASU added two more runs in the top of the fifth with back-to-back RBI singles from freshman DeNae Chatman and sophomore Kindra Hackbarth to extend the lead 10-0.
The Beavers managed to plate one run in the home half of the fifth. Other than that, G Juarez was lights out once again in the 10-1 victory over OSU in the first game of the doubleheader.
Game Two: Beavers 4, Sun Devils 2
In the second game of the Friday tilt, the Sun Devils offense went down quietly to the arm of the Beavers ace Mariah Mazon and lost 4-2.
Freshman pitcher Mazon entered the contest with 2.61 earned run average and impressed in an upset over No. 5 Oregon over the past weekend.
With senior Breanna Macha in the circle for the Sun Devils, OSU got on the board in the first with a RBI single from the Beavers hottest hitter, Hope Brandner. OSU led 1-0 after the first frame.
Through the first time down the batting order, the Sun Devils only managed to draw a walk and slash a two-out single against Mazon.
In the home half of the third, the Beavers capitalized on a bases-clearing single by Brander, followed by an error to increase OSU’s lead to 4-0. Macha quickly settled down and ended the threat by retiring the next two Beaver batters.
On the offensive side, the Sun Devils struggled to string together hits against Mazon as they recorded just five hits.
The single shining moment for ASU appeared in the top of the sixth inning. Following a lead-off double by K. Hackbarth, freshman Danielle Gibson crushed her team-leading 11th home run of the season to cut the Beaver lead in half, 4-2.
After the third-inning dilemma, Macha made quick work of OSU’s offense as the veteran got nine of the last ten batters out to end her day in the circle. Macha pitched six solid innings while allowing seven to reach base and striking out four.
With final hopes to rally in the seventh inning, ASU’s comeback fell short despite having the tying run up at the plate.
The Sun Devils lost 4-2 to the Beavers. It was just ASU’s fifth loss of the year and ended a nine-game winning streak.
Game Three: Sun Devils 2, Beavers 1
In the final game of the series, the extended pitcher’s duel went to the Sun Devils as ASU topped OSU 2-1 in 15 innings.
Juarez and Mazon came out Sunday after already pitching one game a piece in the series.
Mazon breezed through the top of the opening frame, striking out the first two ASU hitters. In Juarez’s first inning of work, she let a couple Beavers reach base, but averted any from crossing home plate.
The score remained deadlocked until the top of the third. Freshman Bella Loomis led off with a single to left and moved over to second on junior Taylor Becerra’s sacrifice bunt. After K. Hackbarth struck out looking, sophomore Jade Gortarez avenged Mazon with a crucial two-out RBI double to give the Sun Devils a 1-0 advantage.
In the home half of the third inning, Juarez kept OSU from retaliating.
For the next three innings, zeroes were put across the board. Neither team could pile on the runs against the aces.
Sophomore Maddi Hackbarth roped a lead-off double past the first base bag in the seventh inning. After a couple of fly outs and walks, the bases were filled with two outs for Gortarez. This time, Mazon won this battle and the Sun Devil shortstop swung and missed, Mazon’s ninth strikeout of the day, to get out of the jam.
The Beavers would not go down without a fight in the last half inning. With runners on second and third and two outs, pinch-hitter Alyssa Pelegrin laced a single to left. One run scored, tying the game. The runner at third sprinted home, but the throw from left fielder Nicole Chilson nailed her down, keeping the game knotted at one.
The rubber match needed extra innings to crown a series victor.
With rain scattering in and out of the action, the Sun Devils put two on in the top of the eighth, but left them stranded. Juarez then continued her success by striking out two more Beaver batters.
Both teams could not muster any runs in the ninth and tenth inning as the game stretched past the two-hour mark.
In the eleventh inning, the Sun Devils bats went down quietly. However, in the circle, Juarez dealed and recorded her 200th strikeout of the season to keep the game moving along.
OSU threatened in the bottom of the thirteenth as they loaded the bases with one out. Juarez did not quiver. She struck out the next Beaver batter and followed with a pop out to escape the danger.
It wasn’t until the fifteenth inning until the Sun Devils broke through. After Gibson led off with a double and advanced to third on a groundout, Chilson knocked her in with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to put ASU ahead 2-1.
With the game time reaching over four hours and thirty minutes, Juarez assuredly put the game to close. Juarez pitched a perfect frame to seal the deal, wrapping the afternoon up with a game-high 15 strikeouts.
Juarez threw an extensive 208-pitch, 15-inning complete game while only allowing one earned run, which dropped her earned run average to .70.
The Sun Devils continue their dominant start in conference play and head back home to take on No. 5 Oregon Ducks next weekend.
