(Photo via Marina Williams/WCSN)
TEMPE — Sun Devil softball played another Saturday doubleheader under the sunset’s soft hue and the sharp glare of Farrington Stadium’s lights. The Sun Devils played vastly differently from just a few weeks ago, showing much more cohesiveness on the field and prowess in the batter’s box.
At the night’s end, every play and every pitch was necessary, as the Devils (11-5) finished with a 9-4 victory against the Wolverines and worked for a well-deserved 5-1 win against the Bengals.
“This has been a long stretch, and right now (the team) is just in grind mode,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “They have sore arms and fatigued legs, but they are just battling, grinding. It wasn’t really pretty for most of that game, but sometimes it isn’t super pretty, and you just find ways to win.”
The Sun Devils began their winning night against the Wolverines in the first two innings. The team looked in top shape as it racked up a combined total of six runs by producing hit after hit, which resulted in the Wolverines calling for a pitching change. The Sun Devils carried their momentum from their Friday wins with a home run from graduate infielder Alesia Denby. Time and time again, Denby delivered when she was in the batter’s box, ending the game with a double, a home run and two RBIs.
However, the Devils faced a scoring drought in the middle of the game and went three full innings without touching home. During this time, junior catcher Rachel Brown hit a massive home run that brought in three runs and chipped away at the Sun Devils’ lead. But the Wolverines never got close enough to impact the game. The Devils secured the win in the sixth inning, scoring three more runs to bring their total to nine. The last inning saw four Wolverine batters unable to close the five-run gap, clinching the 9-4 win for the Sun Devils.
ASU used the trio of senior righty Deborah Jones, freshman righty Meika Lauppe and graduate righty Marissa Schuld to secure the win against Utah Valley. Jones recorded two strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched but gave up three runs to the Wolverines. Lauppe came in and found the strike zone with expertise. The freshman also had a lot of action in the circle, as she contributed to multiple plays in the infield. Schuld entered the ring like a knight in shining armor at the top of the seventh. The senior only faced four batters to seal the deal, and she extended the Sun Devils’ winning streak to three in a row.
“(Lauppe) had a nice outing,” Bartlett said. “She had a nice outing. Certainly the core of, I think, the consistency of the win streak is those veteran pitchers right now. Last year, best year, so they are grinding through it.”
It seemed as if the Sun Devils had met their match when they faced off against the Bengals for the second game of the doubleheader. The dual between the two teams went into an extra inning, just like the Devils’ game Friday against the Buckeyes. ASU kept Idaho State in check for the first three innings, but their foundation cracked slightly in the fourth, where the Bengals scored their first and only run that tied the game at 1-1.
Fresh off pitching the seventh inning against the Wolverines, Schuld was the starting pitcher against the Bengals. Her arm was powerful, as the snap of her pitches hitting senior catcher Sara Kinch’s glove echoed throughout the stadium. Schuld pitched for the first six innings and only allowed one run. Senior right-handed pitcher Mac Osbourne stepped into the circle in the seventh inning in hopes of retiring the inning quickly. She did just that, throwing only six pitches to get the Devils back at bat. The extra-inning game saw Osborne in the circle again, and she kept the Bengals at bay during the eighth inning.
In the first batting rotation for the Sun Devils, graduate outfielder Kelsey Hall came home on the third out of a scoreless inning and forcefully stomped on home plate. Hall’s actions would later symbolize the Sun Devil’s frustration with trying to score runs against the Bengals. The Devils scored one run in the second inning and did not score for the rest of the regulation game. Most of the Sun Devils’ hits were in the infield, making it hard for runners to touch home, let alone make it to first base.
In the eighth inning, Denby and senior infielder Kayla Lissy were intentionally walked and could not get the ball into play. But that all changed when sophomore utility Shannon Cunningham hit a walk-off grand slam to center field on the first pitch. Cunningham’s efforts brought the final score to 5-1, ending the game with newfound confidence.
“A lot of non-conference wins are really big going into the season,” Cunningham said. “The (Pac-12 Conference) is, in my opinion, the toughest conference to play in, and having those non-conference wins to kind of boost our record before going into some really tough games is great.”
