(Photo: Alli Cline/WCSN)
Less than 24 hours after coming up with a clutch come-from-behind victory against their arch rival, Arizona State softball came up with a wire-to-wire victory, clinching the weekend series against the Arizona Wildcats with a 9-4 win Saturday afternoon in Tucson.
Getting the start for ASU (24-10, 5-2) was Dale Ryndak, coming off of a win in relief for the Sun Devils on Friday night, and for the most part she cruised through a Wildcat lineup that didn’t have a player batting under .317.
Ryndak is now 11-4 in her freshman season, and finished the day with five innings, six hits, four runs and two strikeouts.
The freshman pitcher out of Downers Grove, Ill. kept the Wildcats off-balance for the early part of the afternoon and used the six-run lead she had been handed to her advantage, being able to challenge the Wildcat hitters with authority.
She was the beneficiary of a four-run third inning by the ASU offense that broke the game open, highlighted by a two-run double by senior third baseman Haley Steele. Junior second baseman Nikki Girard also drove in two runs later that inning.
The Sun Devils were able to keep the offensive pressure on the Wildcats defense and UA’s Trish Parks, who only lasted three innings, giving up seven hits, seven runs and three walks.
Arizona battled to get back in the game as they kept it close early with solo home runs from senior first baseman Hallie Wilson and sophomore right fielder Katiyana Mauga. That cut the lead to 7-4 in the fifth inning, but it was as close as they would get to Arizona State.
The Devils answered the Wildcats with another quality offensive inning, highlighted by back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning by senior catcher Amber Freeman and Steele to push ASU’s lead from three back up to five.
The bottom half of the lineup was crucial for Arizona State, with six RBI coming from the 5-9 hitters.
Freshman Breanna Macha finished off the afternoon in the circle, recording two innings pitched with no runs and three strikeouts.
The Sun Devils and Wildcats will wrap up the series on Sunday night, which will be the last time the two teams meet in the regular season.
ASU will continue their first extended road trip of this season, as they will play a pair of doubleheaders on April 6 at New Mexico State and April 7 against UTEP in El Paso, Tex.
Arizona will head out on the road as well, beginning a three-game series against the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis on April 2.
