Softball splits with Oregon, cancels last match
After heavy rain forced the series opener to be pushed back to Saturday, the Arizona State softball team split with Oregon in a doubleheader at Howe Field. In game one, the Sun Devils fell 3-0 but came back in game two for a 7-4 victory.
A three-run fifth-inning surge by the Ducks (23-7, 2-3 Pac-12) proved too much for Arizona State (32-4, 4-1) to come back from, eventually falling 3-0 in game one. The Sun Devils answered in the second game on Saturday, scoring three runs in the first frame then four in the second. ASU held on for a 7-4 win, its first ever Pac-12 win on the road.
Haley Steele finished tops offensively on the club, going 2-for 3 in game one and 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored in game two.
GAME ONE: ASU 0, OREGON 3
The Ducks flashed the first run on the board in the bottom of the fifth as Christie Nieto lead off with a solo-shot over center for a 1-0 UO lead. Oregon made it a 3-0 advantage later that same inning after an ASU error with two outs allowed two to come home, unearned.
Oregon held on the remainder of the contest for the 3-0 shutout. Dallas Escobedo takes the loss to drop to 12-3 on the year while Jessica Moore picks up the win to improve to 15-5 overall.
GAME TWO: ASU 7, OREGON 4
After a slow start in the first game of the twin-bill, the Sun Devils fired back quickly in game two, taking a 3-0 lead in the first frame. Katelyn Boyd scored, unearned, during an Annie Lockwood at-bat. Steele then notched her seventh homer of the year two batters later, making it a 3-0 lead, plating Elizabeth Caporuscio who reached on a fielder’s choice.
In the second, ASU capitalized on two Oregon errors to score four runs on five hits for a 7-0 lead. Lockwood picked up her second RBI of the game, plating Alix Johnson with a single to right. Nikole Afusia then brought around Lockwood and Caporuscio on a single to center.
Oregon broke up the shutout in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs on four hits to put the game closer at a 7-4 heading into the top of the sixth in favor of the Sun Devils. ASU used three pitchers in the rotation to record the win, which goes to Bach who is now 15-0. Dallas Escobedo earned the save, her third, closing out the last two innings after replacing Mackenzie Popescue who came in briefly in the fifth inning.
UP NEXT:
The Sun Devils finish the three-game series on Sunday with a noon start time, weather permitting. Live video from the Oregon website can be purchased here: http://www.goducks.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=245&db_oem_id=500
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