TUCSON – The Devils entered Saturday down a game in the final Pac-12 Conference Territorial Cup series after a walk-off win for Arizona moved ASU’s losing streak to eight games. If the Devils wanted any shot at winning the series, Saturday became the day to do so in order to tie the series going into Sunday. The opportunities presented themselves in the first game, so it was just a matter of whether or not ASU could capitalize.
The Devils’ (18-24, 2-15 Pac-12) offense looked similar to Friday’s game, but the pitching comparisons were like night and day. The Wildcats (30-13-1, 11-9 Pac-12) lit up the scoreboard and dominated every pitcher the Devils threw at them through five innings in a 13-3 run-rule victory. Arizona scored in all four innings it hit and pitched in just as well as it had in the first game, securing the final Territorial Cup no matter what happens in Sunday’s game.
The scoring started in the first inning on the first batter graduate righty Marrisa Schuld faced. Sophomore left fielder Dakota Kennedy took Schuld yard to quickly put the Wildcats in front.
Playing against the Wildcats isn’t new for Schuld, who transferred from Arizona to ASU in 2020. In Schuld’s first two appearances against her former team, she pitched the eighth perfect game in program history her junior year and then earned a save in the series finale her senior year. This year she fared differently, getting pulled after just one and two-thirds of an inning when she gave up three runs on two hits.
Freshman righty Meika Lauppe came in during the second to record the final out but only lasted another two outs. With Lauppe in the game, Arizona scored four runs on five hits and drew three walks. All three ASU pitchers struggled with location in Saturday’s game, walking eight batters, hitting two and striking out only two.
The third inning is where the Wildcats did most of their damage. It started with an RBI single from sophomore shortstop Tayler Biehl. Then came an RBI double to bring Biehl home from sophomore utility player Kaiah Altmeyer, extending the lead to 5-1. A two-run single from senior first baseman Carlie Scupin ended Lauppe’s night.
The third and final pitcher that the Devils used in this game was senior right-hander Mac Osborne. She immediately walked the first batter she faced and then gave up a two-run double before ending the inning with ASU’s first strikeout of the game. The Wildcats ended the inning up 9-1 and could end the game in five innings if the Devil’s struggles continued
The Devils kept themselves out of the run-rule possibility in the fourth inning when freshman left fielder Samantha Swan drove in two runs on a single to cut the Wildcat’s lead to six. The Devils totaled just four hits on Saturday but drew three walks. Both times the Devils scored was because they drew a walk previously in the inning, one of the few positive elements ASU can take away from this game.
The fourth inning was the nail in the coffin though. A single walk and hit-by-pitch sequence loaded the bases with no outs to start the inning. Then Osborne walked her third batter of the game to extend the Wildcat’s lead to seven. A two-run single soon followed, as the Wildcats put the run-rule possibility back on the table, and made it a double-digit lead heading into the fifth after scoring on a wild pitch.
ASU’s struggles at the plate continued in the fifth, drawing a two-out walk before graduate designated player Jordyn VanHook struck out to end the game.
The Devils now head into Sunday’s game on a nine-game losing streak, and no longer have a shot at the final Territorial Cup series in Pac-12 history. The energy in the dugout was significantly low after losing in walk-off fashion the night before, and even lower after Saturday’s game. The Devils will try to salvage at least one game of the series to avoid the sweep and snap their losing streak on Sunday.
