(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)
Following Friday’s 4-0 loss to No. 2 Stanford, ASU softball looked to reverse course in the second game in Palo Alto.
The Cardinal (29-6, 13-1 Pac 12) could do no wrong in the box, putting up nine hits and drawing 10 walks in a dominant 14-0 victory over the Sun Devils (18-16, 2-8 Pac 12). The Cardinal were held to just one scoreless inning and put up nine runs alone in the second inning, an inning where the Sun Devils needed three different pitchers to get three outs.
After giving up just four runs the night before, the Devils’ pitching staff struggled to find the zone in the second game of their three-game series.
Saturday’s game started eerily similar to Friday’s, as ASU went down in order in the top of the first before Stanford scored two runs in the bottom of the first.
The second inning is where it all started to fall apart for head coach Megan Bartlett and the Devils. Graduate right-handed pitcher Marissa Schuld couldn’t find the zone, as she gave up three separate walks that all scored a run. She was finally pulled from the game after giving up four runs in the second without getting a single out.
Senior right-hander Mac Osborne entered in relief but was put in a difficult situation with the bases loaded and no one out. She walked home a run before finally getting the first out of the inning. A two-run double from sophomore infielder River Mahler ended Osborne’s afternoon, and freshman righty Meika Lauppe was next in line. She was also subbed in with the bases loaded and gave up back-to-back two-run doubles to give the Cardinal an 11-0 lead.
She was able to end the inning and stop the bleeding, but the Devils were quickly put on run-rule watch. ASU was put down in order once again in the third, and Lauppe was sent back out before she could take a breath.
The third inning was more of the same with Stanford getting two more runs off a two-run double from junior infielder Camryn Carmouche. That was just Carmouche’s second at-bat all year long, a much better result compared to her first at-bat in which she grounded out against Boise State.
Carmouche came in for run number 14 on an RBI single from freshman first baseman Ava Gall. Gall continued to build on her stellar weekend, which already included a two-run homer in Friday’s game.
The Devils finally ended the combined perfect game from Stanford in the fifth inning on a leadoff-double from sophomore infielder Shannon Cunningham. Unfortunately for ASU, that was the only baserunner it could get all afternoon, getting shut out for the second straight game.
This game was a masterclass on both sides of the ball for the Cardinal. They showed patience in the batter’s box, drawing a season-high 10 walks, and then put on a pitching clinic in the circle allowing just one baserunner all game long.
ASU heads into Sunday hoping to avoid a series sweep, but its conference play woes continue as the Sun Devils are just two games above .500 and have lost six of their last seven games.
