(Photo:Josh Frons)
The No. 7 Arizona State Sun Devils continued their dominant start to the season, knocking off the North Carolina State Wolfpack, 9-1, in five innings.
The Wolfpack took an early lead in the top of the second inning on a solo home run from senior first baseman Leah Jones, but ASU’s offense quickly responded.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, junior Elizabeth Caporuscio got the Sun Devils’ first hit of the inning with a double. She was brought home from sophomore second baseman Nikki Girard on a single up the middle.
Caporuscio continued her solid night in the bottom of the third inning, getting on base once again with a two-out single which led to junior first baseman Bethany Kemp’s home run that ASU a 5-1 lead.
Caporuscio finished the night 2-2 from the plate with a double and single, and also drew a walk.
“I just go up there and hit,” Caporuscio said. “And I have my team to hit me in.”
ASU’s first five runs came with two outs as the Sun Devils were able to force 2013 ACC Pitcher of the Year Emily Weiman to be switched out of the game after just three innings of work. The junior righty finished the night with four strikeouts and five earned runs allowed.
“We knew what she (Weiman) was throwing us so we started to plan. We stayed disciplined in our approach at the plate,” Kemp said. “So I think overall we did a very good job of attacking our pitches at the right time.”
The Sun Devils tacked on three runs in the fourth inning via junior catcher Amber Freeman’s two-run single and Kemp once again brought in a run off of her single to left field. Kemp finished the night 2-3 with three RBIs.
ASU senior pitcher Dallas Escobedo continued her dominance in the circle to start off the season. The rise-ball specialist tossed a two-hit, eight-strikeout performance, only allowing one earned run.
“(Escobedo) did great,” Caporuscio said. “I love when she pitches.”
The seventh ranked Sun Devils improved to 3-0 with the win, but both No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 6 Oregon have already dropped games this season. Still, coach Craig Nicholson emphasized the importance of taking things one game at a time and focusing on the task at hand.
“Early in the season you tend to see some upsets so for us, we have to guard against that and we don’t to be giving one away early in the season so we just have to play well.”
ASU will be back in action tomorrow against the Penn State Nittany Lions for their fourth game of the Kajikawa Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 pm.
You can reach Zac Pacleb on Twitter @ZacPacleb or via email at zacpacleb@gmail.com
