(Photo: Madison Sorenson/ WCSN)
Tempe- After an impressive performance by the Sun Devils’ offense on Tuesday against Eastern Arizona, hits were very hard to come by on Wednesday night at Alberta B. Farrington Stadium in Tempe. Arizona State struggled to make solid contact in the first of two five-inning games against Grand Canyon University.
The Sun Devils put up three hits compared to GCU’s five; however, only one of those runners advanced into scoring position. Through five innings only two of the three balls hit in play found the outfield grass, and still, were not hit very sharply. ASU lived mainly ahead in the count, but weren’t being very selective with the pitches they were swinging at.
While Credit is certainly due to the Antelopes’ pitching staff, the Sun Devils chased out of the zone ample times and were consistently off balance. Hitters could not seem to pick up the offspeed, and soft contact in the air was a big trend through the first 5 innings. The heart of the lineup went a combined 1-6, with the rest of the squad going a combined 3-18.
“Those are really good hitters, I certainly understand it’s a stick ball sport and it’s a game of failure, and I don’t expect them to bat 1,000. But do I expect the quality at-bats to be well above 50 percent, yes.”
Struggling to put the barrel on the ball was the main theme through the first half of play in Tempe, with the Sun Devils getting shut out.
In the second of the five-inning matches between the two squads, it was a bit of a different story for the woman in black and gold. Led by the underclassmen, sophomore outfielder Yanika Acuña drew a leadoff walk, and two batters later, redshirt senior outfielder Kaylee Pond smashed the hardest hit ball of the night into the left-center field gap for Arizona State’s first extra base hit of the night. While no runners came in to score, this was the beginning of the minimal offensive production for the Sun Devils. Two innings later, another leadoff walk from sophomore outfielder Yanika “Yaya” Acuña led to the first run of the night, via an opposite-field single from sophomore outfielder Ashley Mejia. In the following frame, freshman utility player JazMarie Roberts drove in a two-run double, propelling ASU to a victory in game two.
While certainly not pleased with the Sun Devils’ performance offensively, Bartlett enjoyed watching the team come together collectively throughout the night and put some runs on the board to secure a win in game two. In asking postgame about the shift in the Sun Devils’ offensive approach. “They naturally adjusted their timing a little bit better,” Bartlett said. “We didn’t score right away but we should have, and we caught some mojo quickly.”
