Long ball sends Arizona State past Seton Hall

(Photo:Scotty Bara)

The long ball was in full effect on Friday night as the Arizona State softball team hit four home runs in its 12-1 mercy-rule victory over Seton Hall.

ASU got on the board in the first inning after Cheyenne Coyle led off the inning with a double and later scored on a wild pitch. Seton Hall responded in the top of the 2nd as Maria Deluca, who reached on a hit by pitch, scored on an error made by Coyle.

In the bottom of the second inning, freshman Sashel Palacios hit a double to left that scored Bethany Kemp to give the Devils a 2-1 lead. In the next at-bat, Coyle hit a three-run home run to left field to extend the lead to 5-1. Four walks in the inning paved the way for the four-run inning. ASU would finish the night with seven walks.

“Being patient and getting quality pitches to hit,” Sun Devil head coach Craig Nicholson said when asked about his team’s approach at the plate. “We are not going to chase borderline pitches early on in the count. I thought tonight we did an excellent job with our plate discipline.”

Coyle hit her 2nd home run of the game in the fourth inning, taking Pirates pitcher Casey Moses deep to left field. Alix Johnson joined the home run party in the next at-bat as she lined one over the right field wall to give ASU a 7-1 lead.

Freshman Chelsea Gonzales gave the Sun Devils their third home run of the inning and 4th of the game with a grand slam to left, her second home run of the season and first grand slam of her college career. The Sun Devils would add another run to extend the lead to 12-1.

“I was thinking first good pitch and both my pitches were good. I just drove it to left center,” Gonzales said. “I let the good pitch go and when she threw the fastball, I told myself I would hit it.”

Making her second start of the season, Alexis Cooper picked up her 1st win of the season, throwing all five innings, allowing one hit and striking out one. Cooper did a great job of keeping the ball low in the zone, forcing the Pirates to hit the ball on the ground. Eight of her first 12 outs were groundouts and she was efficient all night as it only took 58 pitches to get through five innings.

“I definitely wanted to keep the ball low in the zone. It is always easier when you let the defense help,” said Cooper.

ASU returns to action tomorrow when it hosts Boston College at 4:45 and Idaho State at 7.

Notes

* The Sun Devils’ 12 runs were the most that they have scored this year.

* Cheyenne Coyle is now tied for the team lead in home runs (5) and leads the team in runs batted in with 16.

* ASU’s 12-1 mercy-rule victory was its sixth mercy victory on the season.

You can reach Julian Lopez on Twitter @juliansdayoff22 or via email at jlopez27@asu.edu

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