April 15, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz. – A stellar ten strikeout outing from Dallas Escobedo wasn’t enough to save ASU from their flaccid offense Friday night as they opened up their series against defending national champions, the ninth-ranked UCLA Bruins with a 4-1 loss. Escobedo moves to 18-3 as ASU falls to 37-5 overall and 3-4 in Pac-10 play as Donna Kerr of UCLA took the win to move to 11-2 while UCLA improves to 29-7 and 5-2 in conference play.
While Escobedo would throw a stellar four-hit game, the first inning proved to be the most costly for the freshman as a lead-off walk followed with a single and another walk to load the bases before freshman Kellie Fox dug in on a 3-2 count to hit a pitch that just barely floated over the right center wall for grand slam and the 4-0 lead.
As Escobedo was lights-out for the remainder of the game, so was her counterpart, Donna Kerr, who kept ASU silenced until the seventh inning when Kaylyn Castillo finally broke the shutout for Kerr, taking a 2-0 pitch yard to left field for a solo shot.
That was all the ASU offense was able to muster up on the night as Kerr allowed only three hits en route to her 11th win of the season and the series lead.
The Sun Devils will return to their home diamond again tomorrow night to take on the defending champs yet again at 7 p.m. in Tempe at Farrington Stadium.