(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
No. 14 Arizona State clinched their series with No. 6 Washington Saturday afternoon after splitting the doubleheader.
The first of Saturday’s two games was a Pac-12 game but the second will be marked down as a non-conference game, only effecting the teams’ overall record.
The Sun Devils started the game as hot as ever after fifth-year outfielder Kindra Hackbarth led off the bottom half of the first inning with a solo home run to right field. The bomb put the Sun Devils ahead of the Huskies 1-0. As the first rolled on, ASU kept the pressure on Washington, tallying four hits and three runs in just the first frame.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, the Sun Devils never took their foot off of the gas pedal.
Freshman pitcher Allison Royalty dominated Washington for five innings, allowing only three hits, one run and striking out three. The win was Royalty’s sixth of the year, improving her record to 6-3.
“I think Royalty is continuing to learn and get better,” head coach Trisha Ford said. “If you look across the nation, there’s not a whole lot of true freshman, especially this year throwing, let alone in the Pac.”
Senior infielder Bella Loomis caught fire as well after she sent a ball flying into the palm trees outside of Farrington Stadium in the second inning. The home run was her second of the season, but it didn’t take long for her to add another as she homered again in the second leg of the doubleheader.
Loomis and Kindra Hackbarth both launched two home runs on the day along with sophomore outfielder Jazmine Hill and sophomore Alynah Torres each hitting one a piece.
The Sun Devils’ power surged them past the Huskies 6-1 in game one of the doubleheader but it would not be enough to bring home game two. The Sun Devils saw both sides of a blowout after being trampled in the second game.
Sixth-year pitcher Cielo Meza kept the Huskies quiet into third inning until sophomore outfielder Jadelyn Allchin broke the game open with a grand slam to center following an error by Torres. The game was out of reach by the end of the inning with the Sun Devils trailing 7-1.
Washington went on to launch three more home runs as they rolled Arizona State 14-7 in the non-conference matchup.
Despite the loss in game two, the Sun Devils left Farrington Stadium very happy after clinching the series against one of the nation’s top teams.
“It feels really good, especially beating a top sixth rank team and beating them twice and taking the series against them. So, we’re just looking forward to tomorrow’s game, looking for the sweep for the series,” Kindra Hackbarth said.
All three of the Sun Devils’ pitchers saw action Saturday, leaving them with shot rest in preparation for the final game of the. Arizona State plans to “mix their staff” and come out ready to go on Sunday afternoon, Ford said.
It is always a good day when you are able to knock off a top-ten team in the nation. What is even more exciting is Arizona State will have a chance to do just that again Sunday afternoon.
Arizona State will soon be looking to complete the sweep of Washington, something that many thought was impossible only a few days ago.
