ASU Softball: Sun Devils open Stanford series with a 4-2 loss

(Photo via Nicole Mullen/WCSN)

Returning home after a series defeat at No. 2 UCLA, ASU Softball looked to end their eight-game losing streak in its three game series against No. 10 Stanford during Senior Weekend.

But with an inconsistent offense and a lackluster defense the Sun Devils (21-21, 5-14) were incapable of pulling off the upset in game one over the Cardinal (36-10, 11-8) and fell 4-2.

Arizona State started Friday night’s game with freshman right-handed pitcher Kylee Magee in the pitching circle. After the Cardinal started off with a quiet inning, the Sun Devils quickly put up their first and only runs of the entire game.

Senior outfielder Jazmine Hill put the Sun Devils up 1-0 thanks to an error made by the Cardinal’s defense. Graduate outfielder Yannira Acuña scored ASU’s second run off an RBI single from graduate outfielder Makenna Harper.

Stanford didn’t put up any runs until the third inning, when junior catcher Aly Kaneshiro hit a sacrifice fly to left field. Freshman infielder River Mahler and graduate outfielder Taylor Gindlesperger managed to come around to score, allowing Stanford to tie the game at two.

In the next two innings, the Cardinal scored one run each. In the fourth, freshman infielder Emily Jones entered as pinch runner for sophomore utility player Kylie Chung. Jones scored when graduate outfielder Emily Schultz sent a hard-hit ball to junior shortstop Kayla Lissy, who wasn’t able to handle it and field it cleanly. In the fifth inning, senior outfielder Kaitlyn Lim scored from first on a single hit into center field by graduate infielder Emily Young.

The Sun Devils really struggled getting on base in the last three innings, as the Cardinal went with freshman right-handed pitcher NiJaree Canady in relief. Leading the Pac-12 Conference and the country in ERA, Canady has caught a lot of teams by surprise according to head coach Megan Bartlett.

“She’s got a 0.28 or 0.29 ERA,” Bartlett said. “She is really tough to hit. It takes an elite hitter to hit that sort of elite hitting.”

Although the Sun Devils weren’t able to come out on top in game one, Bartlett remained positive about her pitching staff. Magee pitched the first five innings and junior right-handed pitcher Mac Osborne pitched the last two.

“Kylee did great,” Bartlett said. “Kylee I think gives us our most consistent presence on the mound. She is the one where you can stick to your pitching plan a little bit. The team trusts her. I want Kylee to get used to throwing Friday night under the lights here at ASU because she is going to win a ton of ball games doing that.”

Bartlett also emphasized her trust in Osborne as she “pitched two beautiful innings” including getting herself out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning.

After taking the loss, ASU aims to rebound in Saturday’s matchup to even up the series and avoid taking its 10th-straight loss and dropping its fourth-straight Pac-12 series.