(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
ASU Softball (15-6) experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows Saturday during a doubleheader at Farrington Stadium in Tempe. The Sun Devils dismantled Southern Utah 12-0 in run rule fashion in the first game, before suffering the same fate in a 10-1 loss at the hands of a Wisconsin team they had beaten the night before. The split brings their record to 15-6, and leaves head coach Trisha Ford with more to be desired.
“It was pretty apparent that from the very first pitch we just weren’t really ready to play ball,” Ford said of her team’s performance in the second game. “They just punched us right in the face, and we didn’t respond well. We have to be ready to play from the very first pitch.”
Ford’s disappointment for her team’s play in the late game was compounded by satisfaction from a dominant display in the first game.
After a quiet first two innings in the matinee, the ASU bats came to life in resounding fashion in the home half of the third frame. Doubles from Kiara Kennedy and Makenna Harper preceded a Jazmine Hill two-run RBI triple. A throwing error allowed Hill to score on the same play, completing the little league style inside-the-park home run. Macy Simmons made the most of her first start at ASU, driving in two with a single before Kennedy iced the cake with a two-run blast.
Freshman hurler Lindsay Lopez dazzled in the circle, throwing four shutout innings while only allowing one hit. The highlight of her outing came in the third, when she tossed a three pitch inning, recording all three outs herself by fielding a comebacker and catching two infield pop ups. Following the Sun Devils’ offensive barrage in the third, Lopez was not fazed by the long layoff between innings. She continued to dominate the Thunderbird lineup, retiring the side in order in the fourth in what would be her final inning.
“I thought Lindsay did a great job in her first start of the year, and made pitches when she needed to make them, Ford said. “Macy did a great job behind the dish as well.”
Both Kindra and Maddi Hackbarth would add home runs of their own in the fourth to give ASU a 12-0 lead before the mercy rule put Southern Utah out of its misery in the fifth.
When the Sun Devils hosted Wisconsin for the second time in as many days following the rout of Southern Utah, there could not have been a more polar opposite outcome. Starting pitcher Madison Preston was shaky from the top, allowing three runs in the top of the first on a pair of Badger doubles and a 2 RBI single. After it seemed Preston had regained control with a strong second inning, Wisconsin roared back in the third with a two-run blast from Caroline Hedgcock. Later in the inning, Wisconsin loaded the bases for Jolie Fish, who smacked a grand slam to dead center, barely clearing the wall. The Badgers never looked back.
“I think she just didn’t have it today, and it is what it is, that’s gonna happen sometimes,” catcher Maddi Hackbarth said when asked what she saw from Preston. “Her ball didn’t have that drop as much today, and as a hitter when the balls not dropping, it’s a lot easier to see and know when to swing and not to swing.”
Through three innings, the Sun Devils were yet to have a runner on base, allowing Wisconsin pitcher Kaitlyn Menz to waltz through all five innings, allowing one run on four hits in the run rule victory.
For ASU, an impressive 15-6 record is tainted by the disappointment of their few losses. The team will look to get back on track Sunday, when they host Maryland in the final game of the Sun Devil Classic.
“These seniors know that the clock is ticking,” Ford said. “We just can’t play that badly, and those (senior) girls get it, we can’t take pitches off. We can’t take games off.”
