Sun Devils drop second straight to Wildcats

(Photo credit: Madison Sorenson/WCSN)

TEMPE — Despite the second sellout in as many days at Farrington Stadium, Arizona State softball could only manage one run against the Arizona Wildcats.

Senior righthander Devyn Netz did it all for the Wildcats (29-4, 6-2 Big 12) on Saturday night. She pitched all seven frames, fanned five batters and only gave up one run.

On top of throwing her fourth complete game of the season, Netz knocked in three Wildcat hitters, including a two-run home run in the sixth inning. She accounted for three of the five runs that Arizona scored, as it beat Arizona State (22-10, 4-4 Big 12) by a score of 5-1.

“Netz can go up and she can go down,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “She’s tough and she forces you to kind of decision make.”

Sophomore righty Meika Lauppe got the nod to start in the circle for the Sun Devils. She took on the nation’s third-ranked team in batting average, with the Wildcats hitting .372. Lauppe went 5.2 innings, struck out four Arizona batters and gave up five earned runs.

“I thought Meika actually threw a really good game,” Bartlett said. “The amount of growth that kid has had in a year is remarkable.”

The Sun Devils brought home one run on five hits, with the run coming on a two-out RBI single from senior utility player AJ Murphy.

When there were opportunities to knock in runs, the bats simply could not come through for ASU. In the second inning, the Sun Devils had runners at the corners with only one out and were not able to cash in. With two down in the seventh, ASU was able to bring home freshman infielder Grace Molitor for its only run of the game.

Every other offensive inning for the Sun Devils did not feature more than four hitters. While both teams left five runners on base, the Wildcats were able to bring home five runners, which ended up being the difference maker Saturday.

“Tonight we just kept reaching,” Bartlett said. “Some of that I think is our youth kind of rearing its ugly head, but they are young and they fight.”

With their last two losses to Arizona, the Sun Devils have fallen to fifth place in the Big 12 Conference standings. While there are still 15 games left in their Big 12 schedule after Sunday, ASU will likely have to play its best softball to remain in the top portion of the conference standings.

The Sun Devils will take on the Wildcats one final time this weekend on Sunday and hope to take one out of three in the series.

“They need to show me their guts,” Bartlett said. “We don’t do self-pity around here. It’s weak and we don’t stand for it.”