Sun Devils fall to Lopes in first game away from Farrington

(Photo credit: Zina Garcia/WCSN)

PHOENIX — Arizona State Softball couldn’t find any offense and squandered another great start from sophomore right-handed pitcher Meika Lauppe, falling to the Antelopes on Tuesday night.

Despite getting seven hits, the Sun Devils (7-4) did not bring home a run in their first away game of the season and lost to GCU (10-2) by a score of 3-0. Both teams had stellar pitching performances, but the Lopes were able to capitalize with runners on base.

Junior pitcher Taryn Batterton got the night started in the circle for the Lopes, pitching 2.1 scoreless innings and striking out two Sun Devil batters before she was replaced by sophomore pitcher Maggie Place. Place pitched the rest of the night, giving up four hits, one strikeout and no runs.

The Sun Devils had another great pitching start from Lauppe, as she tossed 2.0 innings, giving up two hits and striking out two Antelope hitters.

Senior right-handed pitcher Kenzie Brown came in for Lauppe at the beginning of the fourth inning, only going 1.2 innings with three earned runs on three hits.

Brown faced graduate outfielder Makaiya Gomez as her second batter in the fourth inning. Gomez came into the night in second place in the Western Athletic Conference in home runs with three. Gomez sent a ball out deep into center field for her fourth homer of the year, making her the current home runs leader in the WAC.

Brown got out of the fourth without giving up another run but did not see the same fate in the fifth inning.

After a wild pitch and two mound visits, Brown faced junior outfielder Sydney McCray, who sent a ground ball past the reach of graduate utility player AJ Murphy at third base. Freshman infielder Grace Molitor also wasn’t able to field the ball at shortstop. Freshman utility player Willa Ford and sophomore infielder Mackenzie Nolan come home, scoring two more runs and giving the Lopes a 3-0 lead in the fifth. McCray picked up her first two RBIs in the young season.

Although the Sun Devil offense put up seven hits, they were not able to score a run. GCU entered the night with the 25th-lowest ERA in the country at 1.75 and it proved to be a tough test for ASU.

Place, the team leader in ERA, threw the final 4.1 innings of the game, only giving up two hits and getting one strikeout.

ASU hitters went 1-for-7 with runners on and 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position. The one hit with runners in scoring position came in the third inning from sophomore catcher Samantha Swan. She hit a dribbler to Nolan at shortstop, which moved freshman infielder Tiare Ho-Ching to second and moved junior outfielder Tanya Windle from second to third base to load the bases. The next at-bat, however, graduate outfielder Kelsey Hall popped out to junior utility player Emily Gonzalez at first base to end the inning.

In total, the Sun Devils left seven runners on base, while the Lopes only left four.

The back-to-back-to-back WAC champions shut down the ASU offense, which came into the game ranked 21st in the nation in home runs per game with 1.40.

ASU will face its biggest challenge yet as it takes on No. 3 Florida on Friday at 1:15 p.m. at Farrington Stadium.