(Photo: Marlee Smith/WCSN)
Heartbreak came early in the weekend for the Sun Devils at Farrington Stadium as No. 12 ASU fell in the ninth inning to No. 8 Oregon in the series opener on Friday by a score of 6-5. An early disastrous start for the Sun Devils saw them fall behind early, but an explosive fourth inning made things interesting the rest of the way as the game slowly degraded into a pitching duel.
Heading into Friday’s game, the Sun Devils had the week off due to the cancelation of their road trip to the University of California via COVID-19 concerns. This meant that ASU would enter their highly anticipated either well-rested or rusty. It was the latter of the two.
The first three frames saw the Sun Devils flounder at every aspect of the game. The bats could not buy a hit, fielding made critical errors to allow base runners, and pitching saw early turbulence early.
“Obviously, we started off really slow, and I think the first three innings were pretty rough,” head coach Trisha Ford said. “Both offensively and defensively, and I mean all facets; pitching was just not very sharp.”
Freshman pitcher Allison Royalty was in the circle, and the woes came early and loud. Within the first five pitches, a ball flew over the fence for a two-run shot by Oregon junior infielder Allee Bunker to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead. Bunker would make a reappearance the next inning to hit in an RBI; she was the backbone of the Ducks offense today.
After the second, Royalty had given up a 4-0 lead to the Ducks and seemed not to control the mound. Rust could have played a factor, but coach Ford does not believe in those excuses.
“You can say a lot of things, but the bottom line is we didn’t get it done,” Ford said. “Excuses are not going to win us very many ball games.”
On the offensive side, the Sun Devils were dry as Oregon junior pitcher Brooke Yanez was dialed in early, allowing only two base runners in the first three innings. Yanez struck out six of the first nine outs, and Arizona State could not get into a groove.
It appeared to be a rough outing for ASU until the fourth frame came along, where an offensive spark exploded to give the Sun Devils early hope.
It started with the usual suspect in fifth-year catcher Maddi Hackbarth with a solo shot to get ASU on the board. That was homer number 19 for Hackbarth and puts her one behind tying the single-season record for home runs. They will need plenty more of those dingers if ASU looks to make a push towards the postseason.
After a single and a close hit by pitch, the clutch queen herself, junior outfielder Makenna Harper came through once again with a three-run moonshot to center field to tie the game at four runs apiece.
“It was a great feeling that we tied the game,” Harper said. “This is a team sport, and honestly, I was just thinking ‘put the ball in play, got to get these runs across somehow.'”
Harper has proven herself to be a constant hero in these clutch situations, and this instance was no different as she tied the game in one swing. However, her batting mate, senior infielder Denae Chatman, could not let Harper have all the shine as she hit a homer at the very next at-bat to give ASU their first lead of the day 5-4.
The momentum was entirely in the corner of the Sun Devils at the moment, as Sophomore pitcher Lindsay Lopez came into relief and showcased her prowess.
“Lindsay has been our staple this year,” Ford said. “I thought she did a really good job of mixing speeds and switching locations.”
Lopez continued her stellar season against a highly touted Ducks offense and slowed them down effectively. However, slowing them down does not mean stopping them, as after a single sacrifice bunt and a bloop single that barely stays fair, the game becomes tied at 5 in the top of the sixth inning.
It then became a pitching duel between Lopez and the Ducks relief pitching both held each other scoreless as they headed into extras.
“Hats off to Lindsay; she has been great all year,” Harper said. “She is a true stud in the circle, and I have nothing but good things to say.”
ASU had their chances with a runner on second during the bottom of the seventh frame but failed to capitalize. That missed opportunity would come to bite the Devils in the future as they headed into the top of the ninth.
Lopez had runners on first and third with two outs when a tough ground ball reached sophomore shortstop Alynah Torres who initially dropped it. Torres recovered and made a close play at first quickly but was half a second short as the runner from third scored to give the Ducks a 6-5 lead.
The Sun Devils would have a chance to respond but failed and dropped the series opener to Oregon in heartbreaking fashion. A crushing defeat for the Devils that saw many good performances. One being Lopez, who pitched five innings in relief, allowing five hits and only two runs for an Oregon team that started the game off hot.
“I commend us for coming back and getting back in that game and tying up,” Ford said. “We had our opportunities with our big dogs, you know, win us a ball game, and we just didn’t execute.”
The Sun Devils settled in after a solid offensive output in the fourth but slowly crumbled as the game went along. Arizona State has their chance for revenge during their doubleheader this Saturday against the Ducks at Farrington Stadium.
