(Photo: Alex Roddier/WCSN)
No. 14 Arizona State (8-2) finished the Littlewood Classic with a pair of victories against Utah State (3-7) and San Diego (2-9) on Sunday afternoon at Farrington Stadium.
In the first game against Utah State, ASU came out firing on all cylinders on defense. Junior right-hander Cielo Meza got the start and absolutely shined, recording six strikeouts through the first two innings. Meza had her struggles throughout the Kajikawa Classic and boasted a 6.83 ERA and a 1-1 record. However, the 2018 Big West Pitcher of the Year found her stride against the Aggies, finishing her outing in the circle with 11 strikeouts on the day, only allowing three hits and two earned runs in 5.1 innings of work.
“I felt like myself again,” Meza said. “It’s been a while since I felt good like that, so I’m excited to keep that momentum going. I’m excited to improve, it’s been a slow process coming back, but I’m ready for the rest of the season for sure.”
On a full count with two outs in the third inning, junior outfielder Kindra Hackbarth ignited ASU’s offense with a line drive to deep center field, scoring senior infielder Taylor Beccera. Senior outfielder Skylar McCarty hit a liner of her own in the next at-bat, scoring Hackbarth.
The offensive prominence continued in the fourth when sophomore second baseman Bella Loomis hit a two-run shot over the center field wall, her first collegiate home run. Hackbarth followed this up with another home run over the right-center field wall.
Following a two-run sixth inning by the Aggies, ASU put the run rule into effect after Hackbarth scored on a passed ball to Morgan Howe, giving the Sun Devils the 10-2 victory.
Just half an hour after defeating Utah State, ASU faced San Diego in the second game of the day. The Sun Devils got off to a slow start, trailing 2-0 after some defensive blunders and very little in terms of offense.
“We knew it was going to be complicated for us to come back after the first game because we never really play two games in a row, so we got our butts chewed a little bit from coach,” Hackbarth said. “(Coach Ford) said to start swinging at strikes because we started taking at-bats away. “
Trisha Ford’s Sun Devils responded to the deficit in the bottom of the third with a two-run home run from sophomore first baseman Denae Chatman. They followed this up in the fourth with a monster three-run home run from Hackbarth and finally, a grand slam from twin sister Maddi Hackbarth sealed the mercy rule victory for ASU in the bottom of the sixth by a score of 12-3.
ASU’s offense scored 22 runs total in the doubleheader with most of the work coming from the Hackbarth twins: Kindra finished the day with five hits, two home runs, and seven RBIs, while Maddi had two hits and a grand slam. McCarty also provided five hits and three RBIs in the big day for ASU.
“We have that capability of putting up big innings and putting up some crooked numbers,” Ford said. “They’ve worked really hard, (assistant coach Jeff Harger) is just phenomenal (in coaching the team’s hitting) and I think we have that capability, it’s just whether or not they have that focus.”
After 10 straight games at home, ASU hits the road for the first time this season next weekend at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, CA.
“Different weather, different area, but it’s the same game, we just have to play it,” Kindra Hackbarth said. “We are ready to play big teams.”
ASU starts the Nutter Classic on Thursday against Oklahoma State. They will go on to face other teams from the Big 12 and SEC throughout the weekend.
