March 10, 2013
DIAMOND DEVIL RESULTS
TEMPE, Ariz. - Arizona State softball went 4-0 over the weekend in the Diamond Devil Invitational. ASU is now 25-1 on the year with wins against UC Davis, 12-3 (5), and New Mexico State, 6-0. The Sun Devils will play their first road game next week in Fullerton, Calif.
ASU extended its win streak to 4-0 after posting a perfect weekend in the final home tournament of the regular season. Mackenzie Popescue improved to 11-0 with a 12-3 mercy rule of UC Davis in five. Dallas Escobedo followed with a 6-0 shutout of New Mexico State (15-9), aided by home runs from Cheyenne Coyle and Bethany Kemp. The Sun Devils outscored their weekend opponents 36-5 and pitched a pair of shutouts as well.
GAME ONE: ASU 12, UC Davis 3 (5)
The Aggies (10-13) were the first to get things going when Cassandra Ginnis scored unearned on an RBI single by Amy Nunez. Alix Johnson tied it for ASU, 1-1 in the bottom of the first, with her sixth homer of the season.
Haley Steele then rung in Cheyenne Coyle on a chop double down the left field line, making it a 2-1 lead through one complete frame. Sam Parlich boosted ASU's advantage to 3-1 on her fifth home run, the long shot led off the bottom of the second.
UC Davis answered by tying it back up at 3-3 in the top of the third. Kayla Tyler and Nunez made the trip across home plate on a Nunez home run to dead center.
The score teetered again, falling back in favor of Arizona State 10-3 in the bottom of the third, as Parlich smacked a three-run homer into the scoreboard to get it started. The glow ball is the fourth time in her career she has hit multiple homers in a single game. UC Davis brought in Jessica Thweatt for relief of Leah Munden who made the start in the circle. The Sun Devils kept chugging, unfazed by the pitching change, tallying three additional runs during the stanza, 10-3, to go up by seven.
The final two runs, which registered the 12-3 mercy rule in five, came by way of Freeman's two-run home run that also scored Coyle. Mackenzie Popescue moves to 11-0 in the circle for Arizona State, retiring five in her 11th start of the season. Munden took the loss for the Aggies, she falls to a 3-6 record.
GAME TWO: ASU 6, New Mexico State 0
A stark comparison to the first game of the day, both teams remained scoreless until the top of the fifth inning. Coyle hit her 10th homer of the season, a shot that sailed over the scoreboard in left and nearly hit the gymnastics facility.
Arizona State got its final five runs in the top of the seventh. Freeman's single to center brought in Alix Johnson, followed by Coyle and pinch runner Kayla Ketchum scoring on Elizabeth Caporuscio's double to left center, 4-0. Bethany Kemp homered in the final two runs, 6-0, on her third home run of the season.
Dallas Escobedo struck out five in the contest, moving her to 13-1 overall. She now has a team and conference-best 143 strikeouts this year.
We will make our first road trip of the season next week playing at the Judi Garman Classic March 14-16 thesundevils.com/sports/w-softb...
-- ASU Softball (@ASUSoftball) March 10, 2013
Up Next
The Sun Devils will make their first trip outside of Tempe, going to the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., March 14-16. ASU opens on March 14 against Cal State Fullerton at 4 p.m. and Texas at 6:30 p.m.
Notes
Alix Johnson hit her sixth home run of the year against UC Davis. She now has 22 in her career.
Amber Freeman hit her eighth home run of the season against UC Davis. She has 20 in her career.
Sam Parlich hit her 22nd and 23rd career home runs against UC Davis, making her 12th all-time in the category. She has six homers on the year and this is the fourth time in her career she has hit multiple homers in a single game.
ASU has four individuals who have hit two home runs in a single game: Coyle, Johnson, Steele and Parlich - Parlich leads the group with doing this on two occasions this season, the most recent March 10 vs. UC Davis.
Cheyenne Coyle hit her 10th homer of the year, against New Mexico State. She needs just two additional homers, 12, to enter the top 20 in single-season records. She leads the team in home runs this season.
Bethany Kemp hit her third home run of the year against New Mexico State.
Dallas Escobedo has 74 career wins, just two shy of being fifth all-time at ASU.
Mackenzie Popescue has 31 career wins. Her 11 wins is just two shy of her season best of 13, which she recorded in 2011.