(Photo: Liesl Babicka/WCSN)
The Arizona State Softball team finished non-conference play this past week against the Iowa Hawkeyes, taking one of the two games on Wednesday.
The Sun Devils will take on their toughest test they have faced this season thus far as they are set to take on No.1 Washington this weekend at Farrington Stadium in Tempe for the first series of Pac-12 play for both teams.
Arizona State is coming into the weekend with a 22-3 record with their only losses coming from two top-25 teams, Oklahoma and Tennessee along with an underrated Iowa team.
The Sun Devils are coming off an 11-game winning streak, which was snapped by a pesky Iowa team who limited ASU to only one run, the fewest Arizona State has scored all season.
The Washington Huskies are riding into Tempe as the top team in the entire country, with a record of 28-0 with notable wins against No. 11 Alabama and No. 6 Texas A&M on the season. Texas A&M seems to be the only team close to beating the Huskies, as they went nine innings in the Mary Nutter Classic Tournament for Washington to then beat the Aggies 4-3.
The Huskies are one of two teams in the country, who still remain unbeaten.
A potent lineup for the Huskies has been a key to their success, with four players batting over .400 on the season for Washington.
Senior Kirstyn Thomas leads the team with .466 batting average, 11 Home Runs and 36 batted in. Another senior, Taylor Van Zee has been a key catalyst for the UW attack, batting .444 on the season with 13 doubles to her credit.
Tomas and Van Zee have contributed to the Huskies outscoring their opponents 222-25. Out of the 28 games they have played this season, 15 of those games have ended short of seven innings played.
The pitching staff for the Huskies has been lights out, in addition to the powerful lineup to their credit. As a staff, Washington has a staff ERA of 0.87 and 234 total strikeouts. Junior Taran Alvelo leads the Huskies with an individual record 12-0 in 15 appearances and an opponents’ batting average of .123 on the season.
The key for the Sun Devils will be how their pitching staff will be able to respond to Washington’s intimidating lineup. G. Juarez will be the key if the Sun Devils will look to steal a game or two from the No. 1 team.
Juarez has a 9-1 record and 1.01 ERA in 69 total innings pitched. Pitchers Breanna Macha and Dale Ryndak will need to step up their performance to give the Sun Devils a chance in the series.
Danielle Gibson leads ASU with 10 home runs on the season, with a 3-run shot Wednesday night propelling the Devils over Iowa in game two of the doubleheader. Gibson and her Sun Devil teammates will need to string hits together against a stingy Washington pitching staff.
The three-game set is set for game one on Saturday, March 17 at 5:00 p.m, game two Sunday, March 18 at 2:00 p.m. and game three set for Monday, March 19 at 2:00 p.m. To keep up with continuing coverage on Arizona State softball keep tuned to cronkitesports.com.
