(Photo via Nicole Mullen/WCSN)
With only three series left until the Pac-12 Conference Tournament, Arizona State Softball is slated to take on No. 2 UCLA this weekend.
Despite falling to Grand Canyon 3-2 on Tuesday, ASU (21-17, 5-10) saw some offensive action from the bats of graduate outfielder Yannira Acuña and senior infielder Jordyn VanHook who both had solo home runs. But the Sun Devils will have to bring reinforcements against a powerhouse like the UCLA (40-4, 15-3).
Riding high on a 13-game win streak, the Bruins currently sit at first in the Pac-12, while the Sun Devils’ view of first place is distant at seventh. The Bruins are looking for their thirteenth conference title, led by newly-inducted UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez.
Over Inouye-Perez’s 16 seasons as head coach, she and her crew have earned 40 NFCA All-American awards, 81 All-Region honors and 103 All-Pac-10/12 Team accolades. In 2022, Inouye-Perez led the Bruins to a seventh straight Women’s College World Series appearance, the longest active streak in the nation.
UCLA’s offense is led by redshirt junior utility player Maya Brady. Brady is leading the Pac-12 in batting average at 0.444 and is ranked second in RBIs with 49. She also and sits just behind VanHook at second for most home runs with 15. Twice, Brady has been named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week this season, including last week.
Another UCLA standout is redshirt senior righty Megan Faraimo, who has collected four Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week recognitions this season. Faraimo is undefeated in her last eight appearances with 45 strikeouts and a 0.37 earned run average. Faraimo leads the conference with 22 wins and 180 strikeouts. The Sun Devils can expect to face the talented veteran in at least one of their three games in Los Angeles.
If the Sun Devils want to stand a chance against UCLA they will have to be aggressive in the pitching circle, as the Bruins have homered in seven straight games and totaled 17 home runs in that span of time.
Throughout the season head coach, Megan Bartlett has called upon sophomore right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown in big moments. But Brown has struggled in her last couple of appearances and has accumulated a 3.09 ERA. ASU’s ace as of late has been graduate right-hander Marrissa Schuld. Schuld pitched five perfect innings against GCU in her last appearance and pitched a full seven innings for the first time in her career Sunday against Oregon.
Last season, the Sun Devils took two of three from the Bruins for ASU’s first series win since 2015. Winning the series allowed ASU to finish first in the Pac-12, as UCLA sat right behind them with a one-game differential. Historically, however, UCLA has dominated the all-time series 109-39.
This weekend in California, the Sun Devils will likely have to be at the top of their game to avoid adding to their losing streak and getting swept for the second weekend in a row.
