Despite losing, ASU holds Stanford to one run in series finale

(Photo via Zina Garcia/WCSN)

Sunday’s final game of the series against the Cardinal was a different story for the Devils. After a massive run-rule win by the Cardinal on Saturday, the Devils held the Cardinal to a one-run game, making their last game their best performance of the series by a significant margin.

Senior right-handed pitcher Deborah Jones was essential to ASU’s (18-18, 2-10 Pac-12 Conference) ability to prevent Stanford (30-6, 10-1 Pac-12) from starting offensive rallies and holding the final score to 1-0. Jones’ prowess was evident right from the start, with her first strikeout of the day appearing in the bottom of the first inning. Her efforts helped the Sun Devils achieve a clean first inning for the first time in all three games.

Like Friday, Jones stayed in the circle the entirety of the game and earned six strikeouts. She also reached a significant milestone in the game, achieving 300 career strikeouts. Jones’ only struggle in the game was in the second inning, most notably when she walked a batter in a bases-loaded scenario, causing the Cardinal to earn their only run. However, sophomore outfielder Tanya Windle hustled to make a challenging catch in foul territory to end the inning and prevent the Cardinal from scoring any more runs.

The closest the Devils got to scoring all day occurred in the second and seventh innings. In the second inning, Windle hit a grounder for a single. Senior catcher Sara Kinch fed off of Windle’s energy to nail one right through the five-six hole for another base hit. Senior infielder Kayla Lissy hit a deep fly ball to center field that was caught, Windle advanced even closer to home and reached third. But the momentum stopped when graduate infielder Alesia Denby could not make contact, and she struck out swinging, leaving Windle and Kinch stranded on the bases.

After a walk and a groundout in the seventh inning, graduate utility Audrey LeClair had a powerful hit to left field to advance freshman outfielder Jada Lewis to third base, matching the Devils’ progression from the second inning. However, sophomore right-handed pitcher NiJaree Canady did what she does best in the circle: She recorded the final out for Stanford when she struck out graduate utility Makenzie Macfarlane to clinch the win for Stanford.

Heading into the fifth inning, the Devils led the Cardinal in hits 4 to 2. Even so, the fifth inning was when the Devils faced their greatest challenge yet, and the team saw Canady enter the circle in place of senior right-handed pitcher Regan Krause.

The Devils experienced Canady at her best on Friday when she achieved ten strikeouts. However, on Sunday, Denby used her at-bat as an opportunity to end Canady’s strikeout campaign, and Denby did just that with a single to get on base. Freshman infielder Libby Walsh managed a sacrifice bunt to allow Denby to advance to second. After two tough at-bats, LeClair hit a sharp grounder to shortstop for a single, giving the Devils two base runners. All seemed to be going well for the Devils until Canady quickly shut things down when she struck out graduate infielder Jordyn VanHook for the final out of the inning.

At the end of the day, the Devils had nearly double the amount of hits as the Cardinal, outhitting them 7-4 on the day. Despite ASU’s burning bats, the majority of contact that the Devils managed to secure were mainly infield grounders and easy pop-ups that resulted in quick outs. Stanford’s defense was on point, but ASU seemed to match its energy both on the field and in the circle. Overall, the Devils looked more composed and coordinated than in the previous two games, ending the series with a relatively solid performance.