(Photo via Janaé Bradford/WCSN)
Coming off being swept by Oregon this past weekend, ASU Softball will look to recover swiftly as it makes a quick turnaround for a midweek matchup against Grand Canyon on Tuesday.
Arizona State (21-16) has lost five of its last six games, with its main problems being messy defense and inconsistencies in the circle and at the plate. The Sun Devils hope to get back in the win column against the Lopes (33-9).
These two teams played each other in fall ball twice. GCU got the best of the Sun Devils 7-5 in the first game on Oct. 5. The Sun Devils were able to beat GCU 5-2 in the rematch on Oct. 26. However, that was fall ball, and the Sun Devils are a different team than what they were just a few months ago.
Now, in the regular season, GCU has won four of its five series against Western Athletic Conference opponents. The Lopes are second in the WAC, while the Sun Devils are seventh in the Pac-12 Conference.
The Lopes will make it hard for the Sun Devils’ pitchers and defense, as they have an on-base percentage of .417. On the opposite side, ASU has an on-base percentage of .368. GCU is holding its opponents to an on-base percentage of .318, whereas ASU has held its opponents to an on-base percentage of .357.
The Sun Devils pitchers are going to have to step up as GCU has eight players batting over .300. The key assets to the Lopes offense are senior outfielder Kristin Fifield and senior infielder Ramsay Lopez. Fifield leads the team in home runs with 14, and Lopez isn’t far behind with 13. Fifield is also atop the Lopes’ leaderboard with 59 RBIs, a mark that ranks second in the nation. Lopez, on the other hand, is pacing the team in walks this season with 23.
GCU’s pitchers also hold their own, totaling a 2.24 ERA. Their best arms are from junior pitcher Hailey Hudson and sophomore pitcher Meghan Golden. The two have a combined 19-2 record. Hudson has an ERA of 1.72 while Golden’s sits at 1.73. In over 60.0 innings pitched, the two have only given up 16 earned runs each. Meanwhile, Golden leads the WAC with 95 strikeouts.
As for the Sun Devils, they seem to have lost their groove from the beginning of the month when they upset then-No. 9 Washington. Their main weakness as of late is similar to that of the beginning of the season: inconsistency. Whether it is the pitching, the inability to score runs, or the error-riddled defensive play, ASU hasn’t been able to put together a full week of solid play with limited mistakes. The Sun Devils will be hoping to flip the script with this midweek reset against GCU.
If the Sun Devils want to get back into the win column, especially against a winning team, they’ll have to learn and improve from their struggles against Oregon and get out of the slump they seem to have fallen back into.
