(Photo Courtesy/Sun Devil Athletics)
Sometimes expectations are meant to be a reality and other times they are meant to be broken.
Arizona State Softball’s expectations this season were set low. The Sun Devils were ranked fifth in the Pac-12’s Preseason Poll and have worked all season to prove that prediction wrong. After winning the Pac-12 outright over the UCLA Bruins, the Sun Devils were seeded as the eighth team in the NCAA Tournament and were granted the right to host the Tempe Regional. A week later from the selection, ASU cruised through the regional, going undefeated, and earned a spot to host the Super Regionals.
“Obviously, San Diego State came out ready to go as did we, and that’s what we do. We punched, we punched, we punched, and we just kept going after it,” ASU head coach Trisha Ford said. “I think our offense top to bottom did a great job.”
The No. 8 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (42-9) defeated the San Diego Aztecs (39-16) 8-3, off an impressive performance from freshman pitcher Mac Morgan, who pitched her seventh complete game on Sunday.
“Mac settled in really nicely [after] the first couple of innings,” Ford said. “She was pumping gas. I have a feeling if I look at her [velocity] sheets, she was a little too fast and not enough movement. And then she kind of settled in nicely for us.”
Despite Morgan’s strong performance, her start to the game was rocky. San Diego State’s redshirt freshman designated hitter Mac Barbara hit a no-doubt solo home run on Morgan’s sixth pitch of the game. Quickly, Arizona State found itself in a 1-0 hole.
But it didn’t take long for ASU to get the home run back. Freshman first baseman Cydney Sanders homered on the first pitch she saw, putting the Sun Devils up 2-0. The home run was also Sanders’ 21st of the year, setting a new program record for home runs in a single season.
When the Aztecs and Sun Devils played on Saturday – a combined 19 runs were scored – 75 batters were sent to the plate. However, none of the at-bats ended in a home run. On Sunday, two home runs were hit with just nine batters taking an at-bat.
“We don’t tell them to hit home runs,” Ford said. “We’re really just trying to drive the ball and square it up and hit it hard… we really harp hard on intent in the box.”
Despite its absence on Saturday, the long ball was here to stay on Sunday. Senior left fielder Alexa Schultz gave SDSU two more runs via a home run with a shot to center field, marking her only hit of the game.
San Diego State had played a great game, and it appeared Arizona State would need to play a seventh and final game to determine a regional champion. That was until the home half of the third inning. SDSU picked up two outs in the inning, and ASU sent senior right fielder Yannira Acuña to the plate. Acuña singled to right to extend the inning. Sanders walked in a five-pitch at-bat, sending junior center fielder Jazmine Hill to the plate. The first pitch of the at-bat was hit to deep left field.
Hill had a productive regional, especially against the Aztecs. The three-run home run marked her seventh RBI against San Diego State and went 4-for-8 in the two games.
“She’s grown up a lot. I would say she’s done a good job,” Ford said. “She’s always been an emotional player, but I feel like she does a much better job now of tunneling that anger into a good positive at-bat or defensively.”
Arizona State’s 5-3 lead would hold for the rest of the game and even grew to the final 8-4 score. ASU scored the rest of the runs by capitalizing on SDSU’s mistakes. The fourth inning started off with back-to-back hit by pitches, which eventually resulted in runs. Senior third baseman Bella Loomis laid down a bunt back to the pitcher. The throw to first was wild, resulting in another run.
The Sun Devils will move on to host the Super Regional in Tempe, which will be against the No. 9 seeded Northwestern Wildcats, the winners of the Evanston Regional. The tournament will be held on May 27-29; times will be announced at a later date.
“It’s pretty uplifting. It makes you excited,” Sanders said about the crowd. “Whenever I hit a homerun or Jazz’s homerun it’s super exciting [when] you hear the roar of the crowd, and your ears are ringing. It’s super exciting. I love it.”
