(Photo: Alli Cline/WCSN)
After seeming to take the momentum in the bottom of the seventh, ASU failed to finish the job in extras, falling to Cal State Northridge 8-6.
Trailing 6-3 with two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the seventh, ASU needed a big-time hit to keep the game alive.
That’s when pinch hitter Katee Aguirre stepped up to the plate, and gave Arizona State exactly what they needed.
First came the loud ping of the bat Then a towering drive that disappeared far beyond the right center field wall, and jubilation across a Sun Devil dugout that just moments ago looked out of luck and out of fight.
But CSUN added two more runs on a pair of RBI singles from Maylynn Mitchell and Carissa Sherman to take an 8-6 lead in the eighth.
Haley Steele came up to the plate in the bottom of the inning with two outs and a runner on, but popped up to second, ending Arizona State’s chance at pulling off the unthinkable.
An emotional Coach Nicholson said afterwards, “You take two innings away from today and we pitched well and played good defense.” He went on to add, “It’s stuff that we work on a lot in practice but we just didn’t execute.”
Brianna Elder was the winning pitcher for CSUN after she relieved Zoe Conley in the second, going seven innings and giving up four runs.
Elder entered the game down by two after the Sun Devils got the jump on CSUN with a two-run jack in the first inning from Haley Steele, her third of the year, giving ASU an early 2-0 lead.
The Maroon and Gold were back at it in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with no outs, resulting in the early exit for Conley. The Matador’s head coach Tairia Flowers called upon Elder, who put a lid on the scoring opportunity after striking out two and getting a weak grounder to third for the final out of the inning.
Alexis Cooper started on the mound for ASU gave up a run in the third and allowed the Matadors to load the bases, forcing Coach Nicholson to make a change and bring in the freshmen Breanna Macha.
The disappointing performance she turned in earlier against Texas seemed to carry into this one for Macha, as she gave up a game-tying, two-run double to the first batter she faced, Maylynn Mitchell.
It was really a tough day for Macha, who finished the double header with a combined seven earned runs in just four and two-thirds innings pitched.
Afterwards Macha’s catcher, Amber Freeman, spoke about the difficulties of being a freshman pitcher.
“This is a learning experience for them.” She said. Adding that she told Brianna, “College is different, you can’t come out here and strike everybody out because everyone is so good, no matter who you’re playing.”
Once the game was tied 3-3, the floodgates opened, and a bevy of mental lapses and overall sloppiness translated into a miserable inning for ASU in which they committed three errors and gave up six runs.
The 6-3 hole ended up being too big for ASU to dig out of, as they came up just short in extra innings.
After a rough end to both the day, and the weekend, Arizona State finishes the Kajikawa Classic with a 4-3 record.
The Sun Devils will try to rebound from these back-to-back tough losses next Friday against North Texas to kick off the Littlewood Classic in Tempe.
