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#10 Softball Concludes Regular Season at OSU

by thesundevils.com
May 5, 2021

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- The No. 10 Sun Devil Softball team (32-12, 11-7) is eager to face the Beavers of Oregon State (16-23, 3-15) in the final regular season series this weekend. The two programs agreed to adjust this weekend's schedule to a three-game conference-only series with one game per day starting on Friday, May 7 at 5 p.m. MST. All games will be streamed on OSU's Live Stream.

Arizona State is ranked 10th in the RPI and looks to capture dubs against OSU to secure the bid to host NCAA Regionals and Supers starting on Friday, May 21. The NCAA is scheduled to announce host sites on Selection Sunday, May 16, at 9 p.m. ET.  

After 11 weeks in the top-15 of the NFCA/USA Today Poll, the Sun Devils finally broke into the top 10 at No. 10, as announced on Tuesday morning. ASU flirted and built a resume against programs ranked in the top-10 with games scheduled against then-No. 2 Oklahoma, then-No. 2 UCLA, then-No. 6 Washington, then-No. 8 Arizona and then-No. 8 Oregon. 

Arizona State boasts five-straight series wins over then-No. 6 UW, Utah, Stanford, then-No. 8 UA, and then-No. 8 UO. ASU also improved its record against ranked opponents to 9-9 with matches against top-10 programs UCLA, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Arizona. 

Maddi Hackbarth extended her Pac-12 Conference home run lead as she went yard for the 20th time this season against Oregon. The mark also tops her previous season's best of 19 in 2019 and ties the program single-season record set by Katie Cochran in 2009 and Cheyenne Coyle in 2013. For her two home runs, five RBI, and four walks in the series against UO, the Pac-12 Conference named Hackbarth as Player of the Week on Monday afternoon.
 

Left-hander Lindsay Lopez and rightie Allison Royalty grew into quite the one-two punch through April. Lopez earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week following the Arizona series three weeks ago. Royalty went and had herself a weekend against the Ducks, throwing 19 innings, 16 strikeouts, three walks, and only seven earned runs. She collected all three wins against Oregon. 
 

SUN DEVIL REWIND
The then-No. 12 ASU team dropped the series opener against then-No. 8 Oregon last Friday night. Despite the Sun Devil long ball pushing the game to extra innings, ASU suffered a 6-5 loss after nine innings of play. Oregon got the jump on ASU to take an early 4-0 lead, but the dirty Devs battled back and ignited their infamous offense to claim the lead, 5-4. The Ducks tied the game in the sixth inning and eventually scored the game-winning run in the ninth. 

Saturday's doubleheader went in favor of the Sun Devils as ASU combined for big performances in the circle and at the plate to even up the Conference series and steal the Saturday sweep. ASU collected two wins, 10-4, 4-1, over UO as nearly everyone in the ASU lineup got in on the hitting action at Club Farrington. Yanni Acuña and Maddi Hackbarth both went yard while freshman Savannah Price got the nod to start at second base for the first time in her collegiate career. The rookie looked like a vet as she went 2-2 with two RBIs and a monster home run in the second inning of game two to add to ASU's lead.
 

Royalty flirted with perfection before allowing a baserunner in the fourth inning of game two. She finished the night with only one hit and zero runs in five innings pitched. 

ASU came out hungry for their fifth consecutive series win and went right to work to secure it. The big bats hit three home runs to push the long ball log to 10 on the weekend. Even though she finished the series with 19 innings pitched, Royalty continued to trip up the Duck batters and secure her third win of the weekend. Kindra Hackbarth, Makenna Harper, and Alynah Torres all went yard on Sunday afternoon. 

STRAIGHT FACTS

  • Royalty is officially a member of The 100 Club. The true freshman boasts 114 career strikeouts which leads the pitching staff this season.
  • ASU is on a heater when it comes to series wins in the Pac-12 Conference play. This season, the Sun Devils have series wins in five straight conference series against then-No. 6 Washington, Utah, Stanford, then-No. 8 Arizona, and then-No. 8 Oregon. ASU has one series sweep against Arizona. 
  • Maddi Hackbarth leads the Pac-12 in home runs and RBIs with 20 and 56, respectively.
  • Jazmine Hill and Maddi Hackbarth lead the squad in multiple-RBI games. Hackbarth notched 16 games with multiple RBIs, followed by Hill with 12 games.
  • ASU's 89 home runs on the season are first in the Pac-12 and third in the nation behind Wichita St. (90) and Oklahoma (115). The team's average of 2.07 home runs per game is second in the country to Oklahoma (2.80).
  • ASU is the top-15 nationally in home runs per game (second), on-base percentage (12th), scoring (13th), slugging percentage (second)
  • ASU hit 10
  •  dingers over the weekend against then-No. 8 Oregon, the most the Ducks have conceded in a four-game series this season. Two teams scored five home runs in a weekend against Oregon. 
  • The Sun Devils dominate at Club Farrington - boasting a 25-7 record at home this season.
  • In game one of Saturday's doubleheader against Oregon, Maddi Hackbarth lasered her 20th moon shot of the 2020-21 season, surpassing her personal best of 19 in a single season in 2019. The 20 HRs ties the ASU program record in a single season set by Katie Cochran (2009) and Cheyenne Coyle (2013)

 

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