March 2, 2012
TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 5 Arizona State softball squad extended its win streak to 13-straight games on Friday night with back-to-back wins against North Dakota State (10-2 in five) and Boise State (4-0).
Elizabeth Caporuscio hit her sixth home run of the season, going 3-for-6 on the evening. Bailey Wigness scored three runs for ASU and Katelyn Boyd had two of her own. The Devils improve to 17-2 with the victories.
GAME ONE: Arizona State 10, North Dakota State 2 (5)
The Devils capitalized on some Bison confusion to get on the scoreboard first. Miscommunication in the outfield led to an Annie Lockwood single that scored Wigness, before a wild pitch brought Boyd home shortly after to go up 2-0 in the first.
In the top of the third NDSU nabbed a run as Brandi Enriquez came home on a Katie Tamayo single. In the bottom of the frame, Caporuscio launched her sixth home run of the season. Back-to-back doubles from Haro and Wigness scored three more for A-State followed by Wigness coming home via a Bison error, increasing the lead to 7-1 for ASU.
A sacrifice fly from Haley Steele scored Caporuscio and ASU tallied two bases-loaded walks to pull the score to 10-1 in the fourth frame. The Bison were able to score one more run at the top of the fifth, with an RBI single from Brea Konz to plate Randi Parks for a final score of 10-2.
Hillary Bach earned the win for a 7-0 record and has a 0.50 ERA thus far. Whitney Johnson took the loss as NDSU falls to 10-7 on the year.
GAME TWO: Arizona State 4, Boise State 0
The duel took to the mound and the scoreboard didn't see a mark until the fourth inning, when Sam Parlich hit a sacrifice fly to score Caporuscio. The Devils followed up in the fifth when Boyd dribbled a base hit up the center gap to score Kayla Ketchum.
Arizona State sealed the win in the top of the seventh, as Lockwood hit one off the left field wall to bring around Wigness. Boyd came home on a fielder's choice in a Caporuscio at-bat to reach the final score of 4-0.
Escobedo threw 131 pitches through seven innings of work for the win and is now 6-1. Aubray Zell is now 6-5 and the Broncos fall to 10-7.
UP NEXT:
The Devils continue the Wilson/DeMarini Invitational on Saturday with Wichita State at 5:30 p.m. and Howard at 7:30 p.m.