(Photo via Zina Garcia/WCSN)
TEMPE – Despite another heartbreaking loss for ASU Friday night, it was a full house at Farrington Stadium for game two of the Arizona State and California series.
Under the bright lights with an electric crowd, the Devils turned their fate around, and they delivered a spectacular seventh-inning comeback with back-to-back homers to secure the 5-4 win.
The action in Saturday’s matchup was split between the beginning and end of the game, with a few scattered home runs throughout the middle innings. However, at the most crucial point of the game, ASU (19-26, 3-17 Pac-12 Conference) managed to record the runs they needed to secure the win against Cal (32-14, 6-11 Pac-12).
“You know, every time you get in that moment, your breathing slows down a little bit more because you’ve been there before,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “The adrenaline isn’t rushing through your body quite the same way. The margins are so small, you’re getting tested every single at-bat, and your back is constantly against the wall. So we’re learning, and they’re grinding. I’m just proud of them tonight.”
This season, the Devils have been known to struggle in the final innings. Still, senior infielder Kayla Lissy proved that the Devils do not go down without a fight when she recorded her third home run of the season in the sixth inning. However, the team switched things up in the seventh and started their final offensive outing with graduate right-handed pitcher Marissa Schuld as a pinch-hitter.
Schuld was in the circle the entirety of the game, but she showed no signs of fatigue when she hit a home run that bounced off the scoreboard, signaling a run for the Devils and tying up the game. But it was graduate utility Audrey LeClair who sealed the deal when she delivered a walk-off home run and her first home run of the season to help ASU break its losing streak
“I feel like anyone in this position hates losing as much as we were,” LeClair said. “So it’s nice to do that for my team. I fight for them every day, so to be able to show up like that for them was a really huge moment.”
In addition to the triumphant ending, ASU came in hot in its first at-bat after the Golden Bears scored one run to open the game. LeClair started things off strong when she nailed a hit to deep left-center field for a double and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly from senior catcher Sara Kinch. With LeClair at third, sophomore outfielder Tanya Windle hit a bouncing grounder to shortstop, and a fielding error allowed LeClair to get the Devils on the board.
Soon after, graduate infielder Alesia Denby was hit by a pitch to advance to first. Denby’s walk was followed by a hard-hit grounder by graduate infielder Jordyn VanHook, which resulted in another shortstop error and loaded bases. Lissy put together a lengthy at-bat with multiple fouls that ended in a walk that allowed Windle to put the Devils ahead of the Golden Bears after the first inning.
While ASU got quiet after the first inning, the California roared. It was a night for home runs, as redshirt junior utility Kaylee Pond homered to left field to open with the first home run in the second inning. Then, junior utility Mika Lee followed up with a home run later in the inning, giving the Golden Bears a one-run advantage.
California’s bats also burned in the fifth inning when freshman utility Lagi Quiroga homered to left field, marking the Golden Bears’ third home run of the night. Despite the road team’s seemingly unstoppable momentum, the Devils were able to limit the opposing offense to just that solo home run during the inning and keep the win within reach.
Game two was an offensive battle between the two teams, as they each recorded three home runs, but Schuld also had a solid outing in the circle, pitching all seven innings and only walking two batters. She recorded one strikeout compared to Cal’s freshman lefty Randi Roelling’s three, but both pitchers allowed six hits.
“Giving up home runs isn’t what a pitcher wants to do, obviously,” Schuld said. “I think I’m proud of the fight I have left in me, just being old age, but I just wanted to keep my team in the game and not try to dwell on the last pitch. Just take it pitch by pitch and stay in the moment, stay present, and I think my catcher has done a good job keeping me with that.”
In the past, many hard-fought games resulted in tough conference losses for the Devils, but Saturday’s win against Cal went beyond the surface level for the team. Their performance gives them a shot to take home their first series win, but it also reveals what the team can do when they pull together and believe in their abilities.
“We will always have a shot to win,” Bartlett said. “So, hopefully, this gives them a boost and just some confidence and some belief, and they’ve put themselves in a situation to go to battle and win a series tomorrow. So, it feels good in this moment. It’s exciting.”
