(Photo: Sam Luevano/WCSN)
Arizona State Softball hoped to head to Seattle with the Pac-12 Championship secured, and after Friday’s 6-1 victory, it seemed that could have been a reality. After Friday’s game, ASU head coach Trisha Ford told reporters how much the team grew and the “vision” that was created in Tempe. She hoped to discuss this after sweeping the series, but UCLA and head coach Kelly Inouye-Perez had other plans.
The No. 5 ranked UCLA Bruins bounced back on Saturday, defeating the No. 11 ranked Arizona State Sun Devils 9-3. The Bruins jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, which held throughout the game. The home run ball was a major contributor for UCLA, being responsible for four runs.
“Compared to yesterday’s game. It was just a team win,” junior center fielder Jazmine Hill said. “We had great defense and great offense. So obviously, we lacked a little bit of both sides today. So, our biggest thing is just come back strong and bring those two factors back again.”
Initially, the lead was built off mistakes by the Arizona State defense. In the first inning, UCLA’s redshirt senior shortstop Briana Perez singled to right field, advancing redshirt senior first baseman Kinsley Washington to third. However, ASU’s senior right fielder Yannira Acuña overthrew senior third baseman Bella Loomis. The ball fell into foul territory, scoring Washington and advancing Perez to third.
“I think in the circle, we struggled a little bit more,” Ford said. “I think we made some pivotal errors at the beginning of the game that kind of set the tone, and against a good team, it’s going to kind of bite you in the butt.”
The two RBIs ended freshman right-handed pitcher Mac Morgan’s afternoon early. Morgan only faced three batters and did not record a single out. Ford opted to go to her bullpen early, knowing she would have the ability to go back to Morgan if needed.
“Mac [is] a kind of pitcher that’s going to put the ball in play – she’s a down baller,” Ford said. “I think we’re just over the plate a little too much, and she’ll tell you that too. [I was] just trying to get a different look. We had [senior right-handed pitcher] Marissa [Schuld] as our DP, so we could flip-flop them as many times as we wanted to.”
The Bruins would tack on two more runs in the inning, extending their lead to 4-0. Arizona State quickly found itself at the bottom of a steep mountain but started the climb up early. Hill hit a two-run home run in the bottom half of the first to cut the deficit to two.
“I think that first inning was obviously a game-changer,” Hill said. “I think that allowed them to have their momentum. But our biggest thing is just to change the momentum back to our side and then come back stronger.”
ASU’s errors set the tone early, but the Sun Devils were able to regroup and reset the tone. The two runs in the first inning exemplified this, and Arizona State even cut the deficit to one run when junior pitch runner Jordyn Vanhook scored on a sacrifice groundout from Hill.
One run would be the closest the Sun Devils would get to the Bruins’ lead, as UCLA would explode for four runs in the fourth inning. This time it would be back-to-back homers that would put Inouye-Perez’s squad over the top.
After the scoring, Ford replaced Schuld with sophomore righty Allison Royalty, who has had an up and down season. Despite falling behind in the pitch count multiple times, Royalty threw 3.2 innings and allowed only one run, coming in the top of the seventh.
“I think [Royalty] kept them off balance. I think they were out in front of everything,” Ford said. “And she was able to kind of work her way out of some jam, so I thought she just did a good job of spinning it.”
Arizona State could never get back into the game, as UCLA’s redshirt junior Megan Faraimo had a dominant outing. The strong outing was surprising because ASU seemed to have cracked the code on Faraimo in the first game of the series, scoring four runs in 2.1 innings.
This time around, Fariamo relieved redshirt junior righty Holly Azevedo in the fourth inning. Fariamo was lights out, recording one hit and five strikeouts in five innings of service.
Entering this weekend’s, the Sun Devils held the keys to the Pac-12 and were in the driver’s seat. But the loss on Saturday puts the Pac-12 Championship up for grabs. Whoever takes Sunday’s game will take the series, putting themselves in control of the conference.
