(Photo via Nicole Mullen/WCSN)
This weekend, the ASU Softball will be trading out its warm desert weather for the snowy Dumke Family Softball Stadium in Utah. Looking to pick up their second Pac-12 Conference Series win, the Sun Devils may need their snowshoes when they hit the road to face No. 22 Utah on Friday and Saturday.
ASU (20-11, 4-5) was originally slated to take on Utah (22-7, 6-3) in a three-day series beginning Thursday. However, the snowstorm delayed the series opener back a day, turning Friday’s matchup into a doubleheader.
Coming out of the weekend with an important series win against Washington, the Sun Devils hope to use that momentum to trudge through the snow and secure their second top 25 series win of the season.
Historically, the Sun Devils have held an advantage over Utah with a 42-20 all-time record against the Utes. This time, however, ASU will have to use its momentum from the weekend to secure the win in Salt Lake City, where they are 7-9. Last season the Sun Devils swept Utah in a three-game series at Farrington Stadium.
Heading into this weekend’s series, ASU currently holds a .287 team batting average, with graduate outfielder Yannira Acuna leading the team with a .409 average. In the Washington series, the team combined for only 12 hits, though this was all that was needed to take down the Huskies. ASU is going to need to reinforce its offense to compete against Utah’s .329 batting average, which ranks third in the Pac-12.
With series wins over Oregon State and Arizona, Utah currently sits at second in the Pac-12 and has been led by the bat of redshirt sophomore outfielder Shelbi Ortiz who is batting .476 and slugging .750. Ortiz, a run-producing machine, has driven in eight runs in her last five games. Along with her powerful bat, Ortiz has elite speed resulting in eight stolen bases, a top 10 mark in the conference.
As a team, Utah is second in the Pac-12 for most stolen bases at 15. If the Sun Devils want to prevent Utah from being aggressive on the base paths, they are going to have to stay on their toes and keep the ball in the infield.
Junior left-handed pitcher Mariah Lopez and graduate right-handed pitcher Sydney Sandez are the Utes’ two main starters in the circle, and both have an ERA below 3.00. With head coach Megan Bartlett’s coaching style of treating her bullpen as a rotation, the majority of ASU’s arms will likely be used at some point throughout the series. In Bartlett’s rotation, sophomore right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown has proven to be the most reliable with a 2.03 ERA.
The ASU pitching staff has a 2.73 ERA altogether and will have to prove itself if ASU wants to minimize the Utes, who average 6.7 runs per game.
If the Sun Devils can rally and push themselves to a series win against the Utes, they could find themselves ranked. The team will take on Utah in a doubleheader Friday at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. MST.
