(Photo via Nicole Mullen/WCSN)
Starting Friday, Arizona State Softball will welcome Pac-12 Conference rival No. 10 Stanford for a three-game series and the last home series of the season. Returning home after getting swept on the road by No. 2 UCLA, the Sun Devils are hoping to snap a seven-game losing streak.
Arizona State (21-20, 5-13) begins its second to last series of the season against the Cardinal (34-10, 10-8) Friday while celebrating senior weekend. Last season, when these teams went head-to-head, the Cardinal took the series win over the Sun Devils.
This season, Stanford is one of the best teams in the country, putting up several high-powered offensive performances while fielding one of the best pitching staffs in the nation. Three of their pitchers reside within the top ten in earned run average in the Pac-12.
This includes reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week and right-handed pitcher NiJaree Canady. She has the lowest ERA in the nation with a 0.30 and has only given up three earned runs. Canady has yet to allow a home run through 69.1 innings of work while punching out 117 batters, primarily utilizing the fastball. She has a 9-0 record on the season and has already pitched two no-hitters.
Another Stanford pitcher to look out for in the circle is senior right-handed pitcher Alana Vawter. Vawter has the fourth-best ERA in the Pac-12 pitching and is a two-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week award winner this season. She leads the team in innings pitched with 136.1, while also maintaining a 1.64 ERA and a 16-6 record.
While Vawter might not be as efficient as Canady, her numbers still speak for themselves. She’s only allowed 38 runs, 32 of which were earned. She’s also pitched 14 complete games while only walking 17 batters and striking out 111. At the plate, the Sun Devils should be mindful of Vawter’s change-ups and screwballs, as she uses them to produce hard-hit ground balls and easy outs.
For Stanford’s offense, freshman infielder River Mahler ranks fifth in the Pac-12 with a .402 batting average. She has 20 runs and 53 hits on the season. Behind her are graduate outfielders Taylor Gindlesperger and Emily Schultz. Gindlesperger has a .347 batting average and leads the Cardinal in runs with 28. Schultz is batting .327 and paces the Cardinal with 28 RBIs.
With that said, the Cardinals, have only won half of their six Pac-12 series, two of which were against the bottom two teams in the conference.
Arizona State has been on a cold stretch, dropping its last three series and extending its losing streak to seven games. The primary cause is the lack of power and inconsistency in the Sun Devil offense, which is batting .264 as a team and .191 in Pac-12 play. Scoring runs against the Cardinal’s talented pitching staff is going to be a difficult challenge for ASU to face, but it’s one they’ll have to achieve if they’re to have any chance of taking the series at Farrington Stadium.
