May 11, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. - With two ASU single-season records broken on the day, the #7 ASU Softball team split a double-header with the #6 Oregon State Beavers (38-11, 10-8 Pac-10) Thursday afternoon in Tempe at Farrington Stadium. The Beavers took the first game 3-2 in eight innings, but the Sun Devils went on a hitting spree in the second game as they beat OSU 9-2 to win the season series and push their record to 44-14 and 8-10 in conference play.
The first game proved to be a Pac-10 pitching battle as Desiree Serrano took on Brianne McGowan, with both going all eight innings with both striking out four batters apiece. The Sun Devils struck first in the fourth inning as a lead-off single from Rhiannon Baca was hit home by singles from Jackie Vasquez and Heidi Knabe. The lead was short-lived though as Adrienne Alo hit a long ball to right center to even it at 1-1.
Kaitlin Cochran dug in for a solo shot to right center in the fifth inning to put the Devils up again and break the all-time single season RBI record with her 53 RBI of the season, breaking Kara Brun's 2002 record of 52. The Beavers stuck back in the sixth as a lead-off single to Cambria Miranda was brought home with a single up the middle from Lisa Allen.
The game rolled into extra innings where the Sun Devils were unable to garner any offense as OSU's Adrienne Alo stepped to the plate in the eighth to end the game as her second home run of the night cleared the left field wall.
The Sun Devils turned it around in the second game of the series as they put 11 hits on the board and nine runs on the Beavers as Katie Burkhart led ASU on the mound with nine strikeouts, giving her a total of 321 on the season, a new ASU single-season record which was 316, held by Kirsten Voak in 2000.
After OSU grabbed the lead first in the second inning with Lisa Allen going deep to right field, it was all ASU after that as they tied the score in the bottom of the inning and added six runs to the score in the third with Katie Cochran going deep again and her fellow Devils rattling off 6 more hits after that.
The Devils shut the door on the Beavers in the fifth as Kim Zadrozny hit her second home run of the season for a two-run shot over center field, as ASU rolled on to a 9-2 win.
The Sun Devils return to action tomorrow as they face the Oregon Ducks twice as they finished a game delayed by rain in Oregon at 5:30 p.m. followed with a full game at 7 p.m. at ASU's Farrington Stadium.