June 2, 2008
Box Score | ESPN highlights | ESPN postgame interviews
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - Another victory Monday night brought the ASU Softball Team one step closer to their first NCAA Championship as they shutout the Texas A&M Aggies 3-0 in Game One of the Championship Series as Krista Donnenwirth went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and Katie Burkhart threw a two-hit complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts to take Game One and give ASU the 1-0 advantage in the Championship Series. ASU is now 65-5 overall as Texas A&M falls to 57-9 on the season.
ASU changed the storyline in this one though as they took the first run in the game for only the second time in their '08 WCWS campaign which came in the first as Jackie Vasquez drew a walk before a wild pitch advanced her to second only to see Pac-10 RBI leader Krista Donnenwirth dig in to slap a 2-2 pitch to right field to plate Vasquez and take the 1-0 lead.
Donnenwirth decided that she needed to make some more noise in her next at-bat as well as she dug in with two outs to make another argument for the freshmen class as the real stars as she launched a 1-0 pitch deep to left field for her 15th home run of the season and pushing the lead to 2-0. Apparently though, Donnenwirth wasn't satisfied with just two RBIs as she grabbed another at-bat in the fifth as Kaitlin Cochran singled up the middle and stole second to get into scoring position only to let Donnenwirth smack home another run as she slapped one through the right side to plate Cochran and put the score at it's final resting place of 3-0.
Katie Burkhart wasn't to be outdone though as she was lights-out en route to her 40th win of the year and her 20th complete-game shutout of the season as she allowed only two hits all game while striking out 11 on the night in her 27th double-digit strikeout performance of the season.
The Sun Devils are now one game away from their ultimate goal which they'll look to secure tomorrow night as they face-off against Texas A&M again tomorrow night in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium. Start time is 7 p.m. CT (5 p.m. local).