Feb. 17, 2012
TEMPE - Arizona State softball moves to 7-2 on the year after notching two wins Friday night in the opening day of the Littlewood Classic. The Sun Devils blanked Central Michigan 7-0, then a game-winning three-run homer from Elizabeth Caporuscio pushed ASU ahead 5-2 against Iowa in game two.
Mary Littlewood, whom the tournament is coined after, threw out the first pitch of ASU's opening game in front of a crowd of 914 adoring fans at Farrington Stadium. Hillary Bach pitched stellar as well against CMU, going the distance with nine strikeouts to drop the Chippewas to 0-2 on the year.
Late-game heroics from Elizabeth Caporuscio helped the Sun Devils go 2-0 on the day as the freshman belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to help ASU outlast Iowa 5-2. Caporuscio finished the game 2-for-3 with one run and three RBI.
GAME ONE: ASU 7, Central Michigan 0
The Sun Devils were first to light up the board, as Katelyn Boyd tallied a run in the opening frame on an Amber Freeman hit to left. In the third, ASU stretched its lead to 3-0 with no outs after a two-RBI shot over the left field fence from Boyd. Bailey Wigness scored on the homer after reaching on a single through the left side in the prior at-bat.
Caporuscio knocked her third home run of the year on a longball to right center in the fifth, plating pinch runner Talor Haro who was on base via a Freeman walk. The Chippewas brought in Kristen Kuhlman to record the final two outs for Chelsea Sundberg but not before the Devils closed the inning ahead 5-0.
Two unearned runs in the top of the sixth by Boyd and Christina Zambrana gave ASU what would be its final score of 7-0. Bach improves her winning streak to 4-0, fanning nine in her fourth shutout on the year. Sundberg garnered the loss for Central Michigan, falling to 0-1.
Top offensive players for ASU were Caporuscio, 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored, and Wigness, 2-for-3 with one run scored.
GAME TWO: ASU 5, Iowa 2
In ASU's slowest start of the season, both teams remained scoreless heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs against Iowa, a double down the right field line by Katie Keim scored two giving the Hawkeyes a 2-0 edge.
A late rally in the bottom of the seventh saw Zambrana lead with a single up the middle. Nikole Afusia then walked followed by Wigness reaching on a fielder's choice. Zambrana scored, unearned, off a Blackhawk error to make it a one-run game.
Annie Lockwood tied it with a single down the right field line to bring around pinch runner Kayla Ketchum, unearned. Caporuscio finished the game with a clutch three-run home run to right to score Lockwood and Wigness.
Dallas Escobedo took home the win in the circle with 10 strikeouts while Kayla Massey falls to 1-2 with the loss for Iowa after three strikeouts and seven walks in 6.1 innings worked.
UP NEXT: ASU faces Minnesota (5:30 p.m. MT) and Iowa State (7:30 p.m. MT) in day two of tournament action.