(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
Coming into the doubleheader, the No. 14 Arizona State Sun Devil’s Softball team was riding a nine-game winning streak and a streak of five straight shutouts.
One of those streaks was ended while the other progressed Sunday afternoon as they faced off in games two and three in their series against the Minnesota Gophers.
Game one
Game number one was dominated by ASU as they used three home runs and a dominating performance from the circle behind senior Breanna Macha to defeat Minnesota 9-1 in a run-rule five-inning victory.
The Gophers threatened early in the first with back-to-back singles to begin the game, but the senior pitcher quickly found her groove. Macha forced three straight fly balls to get out of the jam as she worked in and out of trouble several times on the night.
“Having my defense behind me, that just solidifies everything,” Macha said. “The plays that they made today just really helped me out in the end.”
In the bottom of the inning, it was the sophomore Kindra Hackbarth who got things going with a lead-off single. The tie of 0-0 didn’t last long as after consecutive outs by the Sun Devils it was left fielder Nicole Chilson who broke the tie with a two-run home run to set the tone for the game.
See ya later, ball 👋
2-0 good guys! pic.twitter.com/63nLNv3zgz
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) March 11, 2018
Following the jam in the first inning, Macha set down Minnesota in order with three consecutive outs in the second. The streak of six consecutive outs would be ended in the top of the third inning by a single from the nine-hole in freshman Ellee Jensen for the Gophers.
“I talked to our grad assistant, she kind of just tells me to stay myself, throw my game,” Macha said. “Throw at 80 percent, that’s when I do my best, so I can really have more movement on my ball.”
The streak of consecutive outs would not be the only streak broken in the inning as ASU’s streak of five straight shutouts also came to an end in the inning. Following the leadoff single, it was a hit batter that gave Minnesota runners on first and second with no outs once again.
Macha was able to get two straight swinging strikeouts before a flyball hit to center fielder Morgan Howe was lost in the sun leading to the end of the streak and put the Gophers behind 2-1.
ASU would answer back with a three-run fourth inning and a four-run fifth inning. The runs in the fourth came behind back-to-back home runs from catcher Maddi Hackbarth and junior Skylar McCarty to put the Sun Devils ahead 5-1.
“Going into the game we always have a plan,” M. Hackbarth said. “My plan was to sit inside and make sure I’m on time for it. So that at-bat I said here we go and got on time and it felt good.”
The final four runs to complete the run-rule would be poured on in the fifth and final inning as a hit by pitch and two consecutive walks led to the bases being loaded with a one out. ASU used RBI singles from Taylor Becerra, Marisa Stankiewicz, and Bella Loomis to along with an error to close out the game.
Game two
The second and final game of the doubleheader was headlined by a masterful pitching performance from G Juarez who picked up her eighth win of the year in a complete game shutout as the Sun Devils won 4-0.
Juarez finished the game allowing only a single hit while striking out five in the performance. The only hit off Juarez came in the fourth inning of the game, but the batter was thrown out by center fielder Howe. This allowed the sophomore southpaw to face the minimum 21 batters in the game.
Despite having such a successful year, the young pitcher has the mindset that every game is new and not to hang onto the past.
“I have to remember this is a new game,” Juarez said. “They’re going to make adjustments, they’ve seen me four times.”
ASU got their own scoring in the fourth inning after struggling through the first time through the lineup. Amber Fiser of Minnesota was the cause of the struggle as the right-handed pitcher finished with a career-high eleven strikeouts in the game while only allowing one earned run.
The Sun Devils struck in the fourth behind a leadoff walk by Howe followed by a perfectly executed Chilson bunt single. Howe was able to cross the plate and break the tie after a combination of a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed her to advance.
It was then a combination of errors from the Gophers with an error on a rundown and one on a fielding play combined with a Howe double that scored two for ASU making the score 3-0.
After leaving the first game to get rest after a slight strain, it was first baseman Danielle Gibson who hit her team-leading ninth home run on the year in the sixth inning to extend the lead to 4-0.
With the win, the Sun Devils improve to 21-2 on the year as they will face Iowa twice next week before beginning conference play against undefeated and No. 1 ranked Washington in a weekend series.
