April 18, 2010
TEMPE, Ariz. – The story remained the same Sunday afternoon as nine Sun Devils left on base and vigorous Cal bats hitting five home runs were too much for the sixth-ranked ASU Softball team to come back from, as they dropped an 11-3 decision to the No. 16 Cal Bears. Hillary Bach took the loss to fall to 17-4 on the year while ASU drops to 35-9 overall and 4-5 in conference play. With the win, Cal improves to 33-11 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-10.
The Golden Bears struck gold first again as Valerie Arioto proved why she was such a threat at the plate, launching a 2-1 pitch deep to right field for Cal’s seventh home run of the weekend to take the 1-0 lead in the first. The Sun Devils answered the call in the bottom of the inning with Katie Crabb digging in for an RBI single with bases loaded to tie the knot with the Bears.
The Sun Devils loaded them up again in the second inning only to have iron woman, Katelyn Boyd, knock a single through the right side to bring one home and snake off with a 2-1 lead., but Henderson silenced the ASU offense after, with ASU leaving them loaded yet again.
A catastrophic fourth inning awaited the Sun Devils though as the Bears were able to put together a trio of singles to bring a run home before two costly blunders set up a bases loaded situation for the vicious Valerie Arioto who made them pay as she destroyed a ball over left center for a grand slam that took the wind out of ASU’s sails.
A small sign of life in ASU’s offense showed up in the fifth inning as Caylyn Carlson, who hit .500 on the weekend, dug in to crack a 2-1 pitch to right field for a solo shot and her ninth on the season.
The effort wasn’t enough though as Cal added two more home runs in the seventh inning to pull their lead to 11-3 and their home run total to 11 on the weekend and finalize the sweep over the Sun Devils.
For video highlights and interviews click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oWnAmA57Sc
The Sun Devils will return to their home diamond next week as Pac-10 play continues with the Oregon Ducks coming to town next Friday through Sunday.