(Photo via Janaé Bradford/WCSN)
After dropping its home series against its rival Arizona, Arizona State Softball will travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma, to face Central Florida, Minnesota, and No. 2 Oklahoma State in two doubleheader matchups this weekend.
Arizona State (16-5) has its first game on Friday and its last game on Saturday set against UCF (17-13). The last and only time the Sun Devils faced the Knights was back in 2009 in which ASU won 10-7. Despite being No. 15 in preseason rankings, UCF hasn’t been having a great season so far, facing several top 25 teams and picking up 13 losses thus far.
However, that doesn’t take away from the Knights’ talent. They have five players hitting above .300 and seven hitting above .200. Their top three batting leaders are junior outfielder Chloe Evans, whose average is .344, sophomore first baseman Savannah Adams, with a .385 average, and junior utility player Katie Burge, who is hitting .351. As a team, they have a total of 142 runs, 213 hits and 24 home runs. With the Knights having many high-scoring games in their back pocket, ASU will need its pitching staff to help hold them off.
Later on Friday, the Sun Devils will face No. 2 Oklahoma State (21-2). The Sun Devils might have the all-time 4-2 series lead over the Cowgirls, but with OSU only having two losses under its belt so far, Friday afternoon’s matchup will likely be ASU’s most challenging so far this season.
OSU is a double-edged sword, fielding talented players on both offense and defense. With most of their hitters batting above .300, and three of those batters hitting above .400, the Cowgirls have loads of power. Graduate infielder Rachel Becker is even hitting .532 and leads the team in hits with 33. She is also second among the Cowgirls in runs with 28. She is right behind graduate infielder Kiley Naomi, who leads the team with 29 runs. Naomi is also tied for the team lead in home runs with five. On the season, the Cowgirls have recorded a combined 179 runs, 219 hits and 25 homers.
OSU has also established itself as a tough competitor to face on the mound. When it comes to pitchers, OSU has some dominant arms. Freshman right-handed pitcher Kyra Aycock leads the Cowgirls with a 1.87 ERA and has a perfect 6-0 record. OSU’s ace redshirt senior lefty Kelly Maxwell also has a 6-0 record with a 2.09 ERA. Maxwell is also among the top 30 pitchers at the Division I level in strikeouts with 88. If ASU is to have any chance of knocking off the Cowgirls, its offense will have to be at its peak.
The Sun Devils will open their Saturday doubleheader against Minnesota (16-9). Last season, the Golden Gophers got the better of the Sun Devils when they took a trip to Tempe in February.
Minnesota, like the other teams ASU will face this weekend, also has a threatening lineup, with seven of their batters hitting above .300. Minnesota’s top hitters include Freshman outfielder Breezy Burnett, who leads the Golden Gophers with a .353 average, and sophomore catcher Taylor Krapf, who is second with a .351 average. Junior infielders Maddy Ehlke and Clare Ceynowa are tied for third on the team with a .333-hitting average. The Golden Gophers have tallied 136 runs, 187 hits and 30 homers.
When it comes to pitching, three of their pitchers are pitching below a 2.20 ERA, with their best arm being fifth-year right-handed pitcher Autumn Pease. Pease is 10-3 on the season with a 1.05 ERA and 110 strikeouts, good for seventh in DI.
The Sun Devils have a challenging slate of games ahead of them in Oklahoma. In order to compete, ASU will rely on its own stockpile of power. Arizona State has one of the best hitters in the NCAA in senior infielder Jordyn VanHook. With a .438 batting average, an NCAA-leading 14 home runs and a team-leading 27 RBIs, opposing teams will likely have a hard time keeping her quiet.
Not to mention, ASU also has a star graduate outfielder Yannira Acuña, who is first on the team in hits with 30 and has a batting average of .448. Acuña is known to be a very consistent contact hitter. That and her .494 on-base percentage have earned her the leadoff position in the lineup. Other power hitters for the Sun Devils are graduate infielder Alexa Milius, who has a .434 average, and senior infielder Jazmyn Rollin, who is hitting .396 with 5 homers.
The struggle for Arizona state will most likely be on the defensive side of the ball. Pitching has been inconsistent due to the young and inexperienced set of arms. Sophomore righty Kenzie Brown has had the most success, recording a 7-1 record and posting an ERA of 2.29. ASU is also coming off a weekend in which it committed seven errors in its three-game series against Arizona.
The Sun Devils are going to have to put it all out there this weekend if they want to have any chance of leaving Stillwater with a winning record from the Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic.
