(Photo via Reece Andrews/WCSN)
The fall Softball season is a time of new faces, tough mistakes and constant adjustments, but that does not mean that outstanding things can’t happen.
Friday night, Arizona State Softball took on the South Mountain Community College Cougars in an eight-inning scrimmage in which the Sun Devils didn’t allow a single hit, shutting out the Cougars 10-0.
Behind a combined effort from graduate pitcher Marissa Schuld, junior Deborah Jones and sophomore Kenzie Brown, ASU was able to play a near-perfect game, throwing a no-hitter and making no errors on defense while scoring 10 runs offensively. Head coach Megan Bartlett loved what she saw from her team’s first game against a team wearing different uniforms.
“I thought the pitchers did an outstanding job,” Bartlett said. “They collectively threw a no-hitter and we made no errors on defense. And I thought we continued to grind and make adjustments at the plate. When they didn’t immediately come out and score six runs in the first inning we got a little bit tight, but they settled in and started to pick better pitches and get on time. So, I was pleased.”
As Bartlett mentioned, ASU got off to a slow start, not scoring any runs in the first two innings. But, Schuld was able to keep the Cougars scoreless in the early frames with five strikeouts in the first two innings. Overall, Schuld pitched four innings with a total of eight strikeouts. It was her first appearance of the new year and Schuld was happy with her four innings of work.
“I felt good, just trying to stay focused,” Schuld said. “Just trying to trust the process, just going out there doing my thing. I am not trying to think too much and just trusting myself, trusting my defense.”
ASU’s offense came alive in the third and scored in every following inning. Nearly the entire lineup contributed to the scoring as eight different Sun Devils tallied an RBI. Bartlett blames the slow start on an adjustment that the entire program is trying to make.
“In years past, the changeup was a bit of a struggle,” Bartlett said. “With the pitchers not quite throwing so hard tonight, you can see how it took them a little bit of time to settle in.”
Following Schuld in the circle were transfer pitchers Jones and Brown. Jones was a departure from Schuld’s power pitching style as she went more for the pitch-to-contact approach, only striking out one while throwing a perfect two innings. Brown on the other hand had similar strikeout numbers to Schuld, striking out four in two innings including all three batters in the eighth inning. With their showing tonight, Bartlett is happy with the way her rotation is coming together
“Marissa is gonna rely heavily on the rise ball as is Kenzie Brown,” Bartlett said. “Deborah Jones will work mostly down and then Mac Osborne is gonna be a little bit more down than she is up, but she has all three. They all have a good offspeed pitch and I think they are starting to work together really really well.”
