May 14, 2011
TEMPE, Ariz. – Some feisty offense from No. 11 Stanford and 12 runners stranded saw the No. 1 ASU Softball team’s 12 game Pac-10 winning streak finally come to an end Friday night as the Sun Devils fell 6-1 to the Cardinal. Mackenzie Popescue took the loss to move to 13-3 on the year while ASU falls to 49-6 overall and 16-4 in Pac-10 play. The win moves Stanford to 38-14 overall and 10-10 in the Pac-10 with Tegan Gerhart taking the win to move to 22-10.
Popescue came out of the gates looking in control as she got through two complete unscathed before the Cardinal showed their true offensive colors in the third inning as Jenna Becerra was hit by a costly pitch before lead-off hitter Sarah Hassman crushed her career first home run, taking a 1-2 pitch long to left field.
The Cardinal wasn’t finished pounding the board though as Ashley Hansen rapped a single up the middle right before Jenna Rich dug in to take the first pitch she saw rocketing to it’s 15 minutes to fame as it cleared the scoreboard to make it a quick 4-0 deficit.
ASU made small noise about it, squeaking a run home in the third inning with Kaylyn Castillo drawing a walk before snaking second and then capitalizing on Ashley Chinn’s lack of control as two wild pitches brought Castillo home for a run.
The Cardinal wasn’t having it though as Gerhart came in to shut it down and allow her offense some breathing room as Hillary Bach entered to stop them in the tracks with the exception of a single run in the fifth and a solo shot by Ashley Hansen in the seventh to make it 6-1 where it would rest.
The Sun Devils will finish the series against Stanford as well as the 2011 regular season tomorrow afternoon as they set to face off at noon in Tempe in Farrington Stadium.