Tempe, Ariz. --The 18th-ranked Arizona State softball team (21-7, 4-1) claimed their second Pac-12 series victory with a, 14-4, run-rule victory over the Utah Utes Saturday afternoon.
The Sun Devil offense exploded for 15 hits on the day, with five of those coming as home runs. The outing marked the ninth time this season that the Sun Devils tallied three or more home runs in a single game, and marked the second Pac-12 game this season with five long balls.
"I thought our team came out today on a mission," head coach
Trisha Ford said. "We did a good job in the first inning of setting the tone. I thought
Abby Andersen did great for us today in the first couple of innings. She just let the defense work and threw her game. We still have lots to work on, but I thought they did a great job."
The Sun Devil offense was successful, and it was freshman pitcher
Abby Andersen who anchored ASU in the circle. On the day, Andersen gave up just three hits in her ninth win this season.
"Abby did great today," Ford said of the freshman's outing. "She needs to work one a couple things, and she is going to. That is who she is. She is someone who wants to be in the game and is continuing to learn. Sometimes we forget just how young she is. These are such valuable innings and she is doing a great job getting through things and understanding what this looks like, here in her first Pac-12 experience."
Picking up right where the offense left off in Friday's game, ASU put up five runs in the bottom of the first.
Kindra Hackbarth led off with a single followed by a
Skylar McCarty's double into left field that put the Sun Devils up, 1-0.
Senior outfielder
Morgan Howe followed with a bouncer up the middle for a single that allowed McCarty to touch home before
Jade Gortarez followed suit with an infield single. With a
Maddi Hackbarth walk,
DeNae Chatman stepped to the plate and lifted a high fly ball to center, just deep enough to score yet another ASU run.
By the time the nine-hole hitter
Bella Loomis stepped to the plate, the bases were loaded. With a double, Loomis brought in two more runs for ASU, and nearly picked up another as Alli Tatnall was barley tagged out at home to wrap up the five-run first.
"Games like today are super fun," Howe said of the offensive output in the win. "It takes pressure off of pitchers, takes pressure off the defense. It is just nice. We are all just waiting for our pitch."
K. Hackbarth led off the second frame with a solo home run into the palm trees. In her second hit of the day McCarty singled to shortstop. Howe blasted a two-run home run to left centerfield to extend the game to 8-0. Chatman would wrap up the third inning with a solo home run.
The sweet spot in the third inning was left field, as K. Hackbarth hit a double and McCarty blasted a two-run home run by the scoreboard to push the lead to 11-0.
Andersen turned in another three up and down inning in the fourth, bringing the lively ASU offense back to the plate.
Pinch hitter Makenna Harper lead off the Sun Devil fourth with a chopper up the middle, before fellow freshman, Yannira Acuna, got hit by a pitch in the following at-bat. With a pair of runners on, Tatnall connected on the fifth ASU home run of the game, blasting the ball past the palm trees in right field and pushing the score to 14-0.
The Utes came out swinging in the top of the fifth, loading the bases and bringing in four-runs on five-hits, but it would not be enough as freshman righty
Mikayla Santa Cruz locked things down and closed out the Sun Devil win.
The series will conclude tomorrow with a noon PT first pitch. Fans can watch all of the action from Sunday's game by tuning into Pac-12 Arizona, or by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.
