Arizona State came out to Farrington Stadium for their second straight doubleheader of the weekend in the Kajikawa Classic tournament. Even though it was a cold 50 degrees in the desert, the Sun Devil’s offense was blazing hot.
For the second day in a row, the Sun Devils had one extremely explosive offensive inning each game. Amber Freeman arguably had the hottest bat in the lineup today.
“I just felt myself the first couple days being a little bit too anxious and I just wanted to calm down and get a good pitch. So, that’s what my mindset was today, was just to chill out,” Freeman said on her approach going into Saturday’s games.
In total, Freeman accumulated three hits, five runs batted in, as well as two, two-run homeruns.
In the first inning of the second game against Western Michigan, Freeman hit a bomb that scored left fielder Elizabeth Caporuscio. The second homerun of the inning came from shortstop Cheyenne Coyle. Coyle’s two-run homerun allowed third baseman Haley Steele to score and that swing increased the Sun Devils lead right off the bat.
The Sun Devils went on to beat Western Michigan 7-0. Mackenzie Popescue was the winning pitcher for the Devils as she pitched seven innings, allowed only four hits, no earned-runs, and tied her career-high with eight strikeouts.
Just like in their game against Western Michigan, the Sun Devils again had a dominant inning that solidified their win over Kentucky.
In the fourth inning, Kelsey Nunley stepped into the circle with a three-run deficit for Kentucky. The inning started off with a single from first baseman Bethany Kemp.
With one out, right fielder Bailey Wigness hit a groundball to the short moving Kemp to second and beat out the infield single
With two runners on and two outs, Caporuscio got her second hit of the game. She roped the ball deep over the center fielder’s head, driving in two runs. Then with a blooper by Steele, Caporuscio touches home making the score 6-0 in favor of ASU.
But the Sun Devil’s weren’t done yet. Freeman hit one of her two-run bombs over the left field wall making the score 8-0.
The Sun Devils eventually went on to beat Kentucky 8-1. Dallas Escobedo improved her record to 3-0 on the season. She had her third straight complete game where she allowed five hits, one earned run, a walk, and struck-out eight betters in her full seven innings of work.
Escobedo’s earned run was the first of the season for the Sun Devils. Over five games thus far, ASU has outscored their opponents by a 32-2 margin.
The Sun Devils return to the field tomorrow for their third double-header of the weekend. They play Bradley at 11 a.m. and Boise State at 1:30 p.m.
