(Photo via Sam Polgreen/WCSN)
TEMPE – When graduate right-handed starting pitcher Marissa Schuld got sophomore first baseman Tianna Bell to fly out to right field for the third out of the top of the seventh inning her outing in the circle concluded. Still, her Saturday evening wasn’t done yet.
Schuld was called upon by the Arizona State coaching staff to pinch hit for freshman second baseman, Libby Walsh, to lead off the bottom half of the seventh.
Schuld is primarily a pitcher, but she was making her 16th plate appearance of the season when she dug in to face her opponent, freshman southpaw Randi Roelling. She quickly got ahead in the count 2-1, and on the fourth pitch she saw, she made hard contact.
Her swing carried the ball over the left field wall, landing on top of the scoreboard, which changed to indicate that ASU had tied the game up 4-4.
Schuld’s start in the circle kept ASU in the game, and her swing made it all even.
Just one batter later, graduate first baseman Audrey LeClair blasted a walk-off home run off of the right field foul pole to give Arizona State (19-26, 3-17 Pac-12 Conference) a 5-4 victory over California (32-15, 6-12 Pac-12) and tie up the series at a game a piece.
“(My coaches) didn’t really try to tell me anything, they just asked if I wanted to hit, and I said, ‘Sure,’” Schuld said. “I think the key for me is just not thinking or trying to do too much. I think I am very disciplined at the plate so just seeing a good pitch and driving it.”
Schuld’s game-tying home run was her second long ball of the season and the fourth of her collegiate career which started in 2019 with the University of Arizona.
Schuld’s blast was certainly the most important moment in the game up to that point, but her starting pitching performance gave her a chance to tie the game in the first place, even if her evening in the circle didn’t start off on the right foot.
A run scored against Schuld in the first inning when senior third baseman Tatum Anzaldo stole home after ASU’s senior catcher Sara Kinch attempted to back-pick Anzaldo at third base.
Things got worse for Schuld in the second when she allowed a lead-off home run to redshirt junior left fielder Kaylee Pond and three batters later, gave up another solo home run, this one to junior center fielder Mika Lee.
From there, Schuld settled down for the most part, she only gave up one more run, another solo home run, to freshman designated player Lagi Quiroga in the fifth inning, which was one of only three hits given up after the second inning.
“I think I left a couple of pitches a little fat,” Schuld said. “So just working the corners was my focus towards the end.”
Schuld left Farrington Stadium with the win under her belt after making those adjustments and pitching a complete game where she gave up four earned runs on six hits and two walks, striking out one along the way to keep her team in the game.
“(Marissa Schuld) did a beautiful job, she battled through that game,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “She kept some very good hitters off balance, and if they got her once they didn’t get her again, and certainly out of your pitching staff, that’s all you can ask. Softball is a highly offensive game right now. ERA’s and total runs scored are higher than anybody’s ever seen them, and there’s tons of parity in the game so the fact that, you know, she gave up a home run here and there and they didn’t get her twice.”
