ASU win earns Coach Nicholson his 1,000th victory

(Photo: ASU Athletics)

Tonight’s 5-1 victory over the Utah Utes was more than just win number 36 for the No. 7 Arizona State Sun Devils. The win was the 1,000th victory of head coach Craig Nicholson’s career.

ASU came out quickly posting four runs in the first inning after junior catcher Amber Freeman, junior outfielder Elizabeth Caporuscio and freshman infielder Chelsea Gonzalez all knocked in runs.

However, the Sun Devils were held to just one run for the rest of the game.

“I thought we had some bad at-bats, we gave away some at-bats after that first inning,” Nicholson said. “I thought we had some really good at-bats in the first inning, and then we really gave away some at-bats later in the ball game.”

“We never want to get complacent,” Caporuscio said. “That’s always one thing we always try not to do. We have to take every team as the highest competitor, and we can’t let down.”

Senior pitcher Dallas Escobedo was in the circle tonight and continued her dominance. Uncharacteristically, the right-hander struck Utah freshman infielder Hannah Flippen with her first pitch. Escobedo recovered to throw a complete game with eight strikeouts.

She carried a shutout into the seventh inning before junior Marissa Mendenhall hit a home run to give Utah its only run of the game. She finished her night allowing only three hits.

“It wasn’t the most spectacular outing of her year,” Nicholson said. “Sometimes, you got to be able to pitch like that too, and it wasn’t like they were hitting the ball hard off her.”

At the conclusion of the game, Nicholson was honored with a plaque commemorating his milestone, and a montage of messages from colleagues and former players congratulating the coach was played as well. A surprised Nicholson also received a shaving cream pie to the face via Sparky.

“As a team, we’re so happy for him,” Caporuscio said. “Just hearing all these people that he’s touched throughout his life and throughout his career, you know, he’s helping us so much this year.”

“Milestones are just there,” Nicholson said. “It’s something you pass along the way.”

The Sun Devils will be trying to earn win number 1,001 for Nicholson at 5 p.m. on Friday in game two against the Utes.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of great players over the years and when you have a lot of great players, you win a lot of ball games.”

You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com

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