March 24, 2007
TEMPE, Ariz. - Propelled by Katie Burkhart's three-hit, 12 strikeout performance against Illinois and Megan Elliott's six-hit, seven strikeouts and one grand slam game against Longwood, the No.5 Sun Devil Softball team claimed two more wins Saturday night in Day Two of the Diamond Devil Invite. ASU defeated Illinois 6-2 and Longwood 12-1 in six innings to advance their record to 33-7 overall.
Game one saw Katie Burkhart tabbed for a homerun by the first batter she faced, but after that it was all Burkhart who fanned 13 Fightin' Illini on the night and held them to only three hits. After Illinois took the lead in the first, ASU came back to tie it in the second with a two-RBI homerun to right center from Rhiannon Baca.
The Sun Devils added on four more in the fifth and sixth innings as they put nine hits and six runs on the board against Illinois, while Katie Burkhart pushed her career strikeout record to 879, just 14 short of the all-time record of 893 held by current pitching coach, Kirsten Voak.
Game two saw another Sun Devil stand-out performance on the mound as freshman, Megan Elliott held the Longwood Lancers to six hits and one run with seven strikeouts for Elliott's 15th win of the season.
The Sun Devils put five runs on the board in the top of the first off five hits and never looked back, with Caylyn Carlson going 2-for-4 with one run scored and four RBIs and Megan Elliott going 1-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBIs from her fifth homerun of the season, a grand slam in the sixth inning to shut the door on the Lancers.
Sun Devil Softball returns to action tomorrow to wrap up the Diamond Devil Invitational as they take on the winner of Illinois and Longwood for the Diamond Devil Championship game at noon in Tempe at ASU's Farrington Stadium.