Sun Devils down No. 21 Ducks in extra inning

(Photo credit: Elizabeth Agazaryan/WCSN)

TEMPE — As freshman infielder Tiare Ho-Ching battled with Oregon sophomore right-hander Taylour Spencer, she dropped her bat trying to bring junior outfielder Tanya Windle home on a sacrifice bunt. Graduate outfielder Kelsey Hall saw this, walked over to Ho-Ching, picked up her bat, and gave the freshman some advice.

Two pitches later, Ho-Ching slapped a ball at Oregon senior first baseman Dezianna Patmon, bringing Windle home, and winning the game for the Arizona State softball team.

Ho-Ching’s single mixed with Hall’s leadership helped to push ASU (4-1) to a 4-3 upset win over the No. 21 Oregon Ducks (5-1) in extra innings Thursday night.

“When I get 0-2 [in the count], I need to put the team first,” Ho-Ching said. “I can’t go up to bat thinking that I’m going to hit a home run and save the game right now.”

Alongside her eighth-inning walk-off in the opening game of the Littlewood Classic, Ho-Ching also had a pivotal double in the third inning, which scored the Sun Devils’ opening two runs. In that at-bat, she again went down 0-2 in the count, before battling to find a pitch she liked.

Once Ho-Ching reached second, Hall made her impact felt again, this time directly from herself. After taking a wild pitch that advanced Ho-Ching to third, Hall worked the count full. She didn’t reach base herself, but her sacrifice fly was enough to make it a 3-1 game.

“(Hall) continues to be not only very encouraging and graceful with the young ones,” ASU head coach Megan Bartlett said. “She does it in a gentle way that continues to raise the standards.”

Another one of those youngsters is freshman infielder Grace Molitor, who scored on the aforementioned double from Ho-Ching. Molitor only had one base hit, but her defensive presence was felt throughout the game.

Despite committing three errors as a team, the Sun Devils defense came up big throughout the game. With two runners on in the top of the third inning, Oregon had a chance to break the game open with an extra-base hit. Patmon stepped into the batter’s box and hit a laser into left field. However, sophomore outfielder Nehanda Lewis made an excellent diving catch to rob the Ducks of multiple runs.

In the circle, ASU did an excellent job of shutting down Oregon’s high-powered offense. Coming into Thursday’s game, the Ducks scored 73 runs through their first five games, and they hadn’t scored less than five runs all season.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Cambree Creager opened the game with three solid innings of one-run ball. Senior right-hander Kenzie Brown replaced Creager, who only tallied one inning of work due to illness. Sophomore right-hander Meika Lauppe came into the game in the fifth inning.

Lauppe faced thirteen Oregon batters and didn’t give up a hit or concede a walk, a far cry from the offensive display the Ducks showed to open the season.

“Just because they did what they did against other teams, doesn’t mean they’re going to do it against us,” Lauppe said. “Going in, we took that confidence, we can take them on.”

After last Sunday’s win against California, the confidence continues to grow for the Sun Devils. Next for ASU is a doubleheader against North Dakota and Weber State on Friday, before another doubleheader on Saturday against Washington and Belmont.

“Their confidence grows every day, and they’re stepping up in big moments,” Bartlett said. “They’re going to keep fighting and they’re going to keep battling, and they won’t be perfect, but they don’t give up.”