ASU Softball: Sun Devils embark on first WCWS campaign since 2013, begin against No. 1 Ducks

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

For the first time since 2013, Sun Devil softball heads out to Oklahoma City and takes on the Oregon Ducks in the opening matchup of the 2018 Women’s College World Series, Thursday May 31.

No. 8-seeded Arizona State (48-11) face off against the No. 1 seeded Ducks (52-8) in the first game of week-long competition in softball’s “Big Dance.”

After sweeping South Carolina in their eighth home Super Regional in program history, the Sun Devils continue their glorious postseason run with their 12th NCAA Women’s College World Series in school history. The last time ASU swept a team in Super Regional play came during the 2013 campaign against Kentucky, which also marks the last season the Sun Devils advanced to the WCWS.

Under their second season with Pac-12 Coach of the Year Trisha Ford, ASU has flipped the script with several new faces making instant impacts on the success of the softball program. The Sun Devils finished the regular season with a 43-11 overall record, came in at No. 6 in the NFCA Coaches polls in the latest rankings, and placed third in the Pac-12 standings (16-8).

Entering this week’s action at Martin Hynes Field, the Sun Devils hold an 18-18 record in WCWS appearances as they search for their first national title since 2011. In their previous WCWS five years ago, ASU fell to Texas and Michigan in the first two games in the double-elimination format.

It was 2012 when the Sun Devils last collected a WCWS win with a 6-0 shutout victory over LSU, advancing them to the WCWS championship series. During that season, the Sun Devils also faced off against the Oregon Ducks and defeated them 3-1 in the opening matchup of the WCWS.

The Oregon Ducks

Finishing atop of the Pac-12 conference (21-3) and ranked as the No. 1 softball program in the both the NFCA and USA Softball polls, the Ducks make their sixth Women’s College World Series in program history. In his ninth year managing the Ducks, head coach Mike White has led Oregon to his fifth WCWS appearance with a 5-8 record under his wing.

Heading into Oklahoma City as the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Championship for the second time in school history (2014), Oregon has reached the WCWS in five out of their last seven seasons.

Oregon has never advanced to the WCWS championship series, failing to make it past their only two WCWS semifinal postseasons in 2014 and in 2017. Last year, OU opened with a loss against Washington before defeating Baylor and LSU in a doubleheader, and then fell to the hands of the eventual-champion Oklahoma in the final four.

In 2014, the Ducks began with a win over Florida State, their only victory in program history in a WCWS opener. OU continued on, losing to Florida, knocking out Oklahoma, and getting eliminated by Alabama, which marked their longest WCWS run.

This year, the story has been different for the top-notched Ducks as they enter the 2018 WCWS with a plethora of talented arms and bats on their softball squad. Oregon stands seventh in the NCAA in batting average (.323) home runs per game (1.27), and scoring (6.18 runs per game).

Seniors Gwen Svekis and DJ Sanders lead the charge in the Ducks offense, hitting for power in the heart of the Oregon lineup. Svekis has a .325 batting average with a team-leading 17 home runs, 57 RBIs, and .681 slugging percentage. The First-Team All-American catcher is two round-trippers shy of tying the single-season individual Ducks record for home runs. Not far behind Svekis, Sanders bats .293 with 16 big flies and 51 RBIs.

These two heavy hitters certainly pack a punch for the No. 1 ranked softball squad in the nation. The Sun Devils will need to keep them from hitting it out of the park in order to have success in the first contest of the WCWS.

The Ducks have commanded in the circle effectively this season with the third-lowest earned run average (1.16) in the nation thanks to the dominance of two powerful right-handed pitchers: sophomore Miranda Elish and junior Megan Kleist.

Receiving First-Team All-American honors, Elish holds the lowest ERA (.89) among softball pitchers still competing in the NCAA Championship. With over 164 innings pitched this year, Elish posts a 24-1 record with 22 complete games, 12 shutouts, and a .158 opponent’s batting average. In the Eugene Regional, Elish collected the MVP award after locking down two shutout wins against Albany and Drake.

Kleist also has put up stellar numbers, including an unbelievable 12.59-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, which leads the NCAA. The junior starter sports a 1.14 ERA with 21 wins, 18 complete games, and eight shutouts. In Oregon’s second game of the regional round, Kleist pitched tremendously, allowing just one hit in seven innings with 11 strike outs and no free passes.

The Sun Devils and Ducks squared off earlier this season in Tempe, April 13-15. ASU lost the first two games, 0-4 and 1-9, but were victorious the rubber match of the series, 4-0.

In the three-game set, sophomore starter G Juarez pitched in games one and three, allowing two earned runs in 14 innings while striking out 12 Ducks hitters. Sophomore shortstop Jade Gortarez came up big in the series finale, going 3-for-3 with a solo shot and three runs scored.

Scouting the WCWS Field

The competition gets tougher and tougher for the Sun Devils as the top eight seeds reached the WCWS, four of the seeds representing the Pac-12 (Oregon, UCLA, Washington, and Arizona State), which marks the most out of any other conference in the nation.

The rest of WCWS field lays out as the No. 2 ranked SEC champion Florida Gators, the No. 3 ranked two-time defending-national champion Oklahoma Sooners, the No. 6 ranked ACC champion Florida State Seminoles and the No. 7 ranked Georgia Bulldogs.

This season, the Sun Devils 4-6 went against WCWS teams with wins over Washington, Oregon, and UCLA. All of those contests were dominated by sophomore sensation Juarez, who is the only pitcher to beat those three softball clubs during the regular season.

The Sun Devils also got the chance to cross swords with the national champion Sooners in this year’s Mary Nutter Tournament in Palm Springs. ASU dropped the lone game, 2-7. Senior right-hander Breanna Macha threw a complete game, surrendering three earned runs and getting five Sooner batters to swing and miss.

In that game, All-American First-Team infielder and Big 12 Freshman of the Year Jocelyn Alo crushed two home runs off Macha to spark Oklahoma’s rally over ASU. Alo has been a huge catalyst for the Sooners, hitting a team-high .415 with 62 runs scored, 70 RBIs and 28 big flies, which leads the nation.

Who’s Hot for the Sun Devils?

In their sweep against the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Sun Devils were lights out all around the field in a max capacity filled Farrington Stadium.

Representing the Sun Devils with First-Team All-American honors, Juarez quieted down the powerful SC offense in the series-opening win, 5-2. The sophomore southpaw pitched a complete game while striking out eight Gamecocks with the only blemish being a two-run homer. Macha followed with a gem of her own, capping off the Super Regional with a 5-2 victory and giving up just one earned run with six strikeouts to her credit.

On the offensive side of things, the Sun Devils crushed it at the plate. Junior centerfielder Morgan Howe hit .714 in the Super Regionals with three RBIs and one run scored.

Freshman DeNae Chatman has filled the designated player role effectively in her first season with just two hits in the two games. However, her bases-clearing double in the second contest against the Gamecocks capped off a big four-run fifth inning rally.

The Sun Devils utilized everything offensively, adopting the small ball and hitting it out of the park to add on that extra spark to victory. With this formula, ASU has punched its ticket to Oklahoma City for the 12th time in school history and the first time under the leadership of coach Ford and continue to tackle their epic 2018 postseason journey.

Tournament Time

The Sun Devils and the Ducks kick off the 2018 Women’s College World Series with the first game of a week-long competition at Martin Hynes Field. ASU and OU go head-to-head Thursday, May 31 at 9 a.m. PT. Following that game, ASU will either face off against Washington or defending national champion Oklahoma.

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