(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)
Friday might have been Star Wars night at Farrington Stadium, but the Force stayed with the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday as they cruised to an 8-0, five-inning victory over the Stanford Cardinal.
The Sun Devils (41-9, 14-6 in Pac-12) put up strong offensive production up and down the lineup. Third baseman Taylor Becerra went 3-3 with three runs and a triple. Becerra has pushed her batting average up to .264 after being around .200 or below for much of the season. She credits working on her ball placement for the progress in her offense.
“During pregame and practice, I set up cones and focus on placing the ball more, so it gives me more of a plan,” Becerra said.
Becerra’s move up the order is one of a few changes to lineup to arise this series. Freshman first baseman Danielle Gibson has hit cleanup for most of the season, with centerfielder Morgan Howe batting third. Recently, they’ve switched spots. For ASU head coach Trisha Ford, the changes are all about finding the best way to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses.
“You make tweaks as a coach and either you’re a dip—- or you’re a genius, you know,” Ford said. “For me, it’s a feel. We have a lot of good players and its putting those puzzle pieces together. As a staff, I think we do a pretty good job of feeling the pulse of the team.”
It certainly does not seem to have slowed them down. Howe, hitting .357 this season, started off the scoring with an RBI single in the first inning. Gibson, checking in at .378 with a team-best 12 home runs, fired one over the wall to score two in the second inning.
The dinger was a bit of a revival for Gibson, who despite a standout season has struggled in the last couple of games, including going 1-4 on Friday. Ford said she boosted Gibson with a quote from Babe Ruth, who once said “I am always a swing away from my next home run.”.
Overall, ASU’s offensive production was far more in line with what the Devils have done throughout the season. No Sun Devil reached home safely until the fourth inning. On Saturday, ASU had scored six through two frames. Two runs in the bottom of the fourth put the Cardinal in run-rule territory, and ASU wrapped things up in five.
The quick win secures another series victory for ASU, who tomorrow will look for the sweep in what could be the class of 2018’s final home game.
Among those seniors is Breanna Macha, who started Saturday and pitched a full five innings of shutout ball. Macha picked up her 14th win of the season and gave up two hits and two walks while striking out four.
Macha has been one of ASU’s feature pitchers since earning Pac-12 All-Freshman honors three seasons ago. As she enters the final stretch of her career as a Sun Devil, Macha said her biggest takeaway is the relationships.
“These are going to be the lifelong friends, Macha said. “Girls that are going to be at my wedding. I couldn’t ask for better teammates.
Behind Macha, ASU’s defense cleaned up significantly after a rough first game. The Devils committed six errors the day prior and slipped up on the first batter Saturday, but played a clean game after that.
“I really think it’s a between-the-ears thing,” Ford said of the team’s errors. “Sometimes we rush things. This game is made to be played fast but it can’t be quick. You have to understand the rhythm.”
With a road series against No. 1 UCLA and the postseason after that, there is still plenty of work ahead of the Sun Devils. However, Sunday’s game 3 will be potentially the last chance the current team plays in front of Farrington. Ford said she wants her squad to appreciate the game.
“I just want them to go out and play the game they love,” Ford said. “Realize why they’re playing this game. When they were little kids, why they decided to play this game. They always dreamed about being in the Pac-12 conference playing college softball, so I want them to embrace it and go out and execute.”
The Sun Devils will wrap up senior weekend and look to sweep the Cardinal at 1 pm tomorrow.
