Three Sun Devil freshmen find silver lining after second loss to OSU

(Photo via Zina Garcia/WCSN)

TEMPE – Rain, home runs and Sun Devil freshmen were the themes of the game in the Devils’ second matchup against Oregon State University.

Despite getting on the scoreboard first, the Sun Devils (16-11, 1-4 Pac-12 Conference) lost to the Beavers (14-14, 3-2 Pac-12) for the second time Saturday night. The most eventful inning of the evening for the Devils occurred in the bottom of the sixth when senior infielder Kayla Lissy and graduate infielder Alesia Denby hit back-to-back home runs.

However, freshman catcher Samantha Swan started the homer trend for the Devils in the second inning when she hit her fourth home run of the season.

The Sun Devil freshmen often operate in the background thanks to the team’s veteran roster. Players like Denby and graduate outfielder Kelsey Hall are almost always in the spotlight because of their many years of experience and outstanding accolades. The seasoned Sun Devils did have multiple defining moments against OSU on Saturday, but three freshmen represented the bulk of their success.

“The program’s certainly in a transition, and we’ve got a lot of young ones,” head coach Megan Bartlett said. “The reality is, we took over eight kids a year and a half ago, so there is going to be two, maybe three seasons of talent. The young ones are going to start to get a little more experienced and get older.”

Freshman outfielder Jada Lewis was called up to replace sophomore outfielder Yannixa Acuña, who missed Saturday’s game due to her injury from Friday’s game. Lewis has played in 18 of 27 games for the Devils, but she has only started five. However, it was difficult to tell her lack of gameplay because of her poise and confidence in left field. The freshman quickly handled the action in the green, as she caught multiple fouls, resulting in much-needed outs for the Devils.

Although she is inexperienced offensively with her 18 at-bats compared to the 70s of the veteran players, she had her first base hit of the game when she singled up the middle of the field in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Freshman infielder Libby Walsh also had a solid showing. Walsh has started at second base for 25 of 27 games for the Devils, making an immediate impact on both sides of the ball. In the top of the fourth, Walsh made a diving catch to prevent a fast grounder from escaping into the outfield. Like Lewis, Walsh also had a lot of action on her side of the field, but she completed her plays with relative ease.

Her offensive outing was equally as impressive, as she came in clutch when the Devils had two outs and desperately needed to score. She doubled to left field for a two-run RBI to bring in Denby and sophomore outfielder Tanya Windle.

Performing under pressure and in two-out situations is also no strange occurrence for Swan. Along with her homer in the second inning, Swan performed again in a two-out scenario when she hit a sharp drive to shortstop for a single, resulting in loaded bases in the bottom of the fourth.

The freshman also started and stayed as the catcher for the entire game. Although she is a new addition to the team, she knows the Sun Devil pitchers quite well, doing her part to help get senior right-handers Deborah Jones and Mac Osborne settled after a sequence of hits or off-the-mark pitches.

“I’m excited for the future of the program,” Bartlett said. “Those are all three young ones, so they’re starting to earn some time coming up in some big moments. So certainly the silver lining for tonight.”