TEMPE – The No. 21 Arizona State softball team dropped a pair of games on the final day of the Louisville Slugger Invitational falling in extra innings against No. 9 James Madison, 2-1, before taking a loss to Ohio State in the final game of the weekend, 11-5.
The Sun Devils finished the pre-conference season with a 21-7 record and now set their sights on a Territorial Cup series against rival Arizona to open up the Pac-12 season next weekend in Tempe. Arizona State will kick off its three-game series against the Wildcats on Friday, March 18 at 5 p.m. Arizona time at Farrington Stadium.
Full recaps of each of today’s games can be found below:
#9 James Madison 2, #21 ASU 1 (8)
Nikki Girard hit her fourth home run of the season to send things into extra innings and true freshman Taylor Becerra extended her hit streak to 12 games but the effort wasn’t enough as the Devils fell to the ninth-ranked Dukes, 2-1, in eight innings.
Kelsey Kessler had another impressive outing as she struck out 10 and allowed just one earned run on four hits in her complete game effort.
Game one was a pitcher’s duel between Dukes’ Jailyn Ford and Kessler. Both ace’s kept the bats at bay and kept the opposing offense scoreless through five innings.
JMU threatened in the top of the fifth with the bases loaded with no outs but Kessler and the defense got out of the jam as catcher Katee Aguirre and shortstop Chelsea Gonzales sniffed out the suicide squeeze attempt and caught Ford napping at third in a run down.
Kessler did the rest as she fanned the remaining two batters to get out of the inning unscathed.
The Dukes did strike first however, after Erica Field hit a solo home run in the top of the sixth to make it a 1-0 ball game.
ASU returned the favor in the bottom of the seventh as Nikki Girard tied the game with a monster solo shot to left. Chelsea Gonzales almost ended the game with a big hit of her own but the ball came about a foot short of clearing the outfield wall and went down as a loud single and the Devils couldn’t bring the runner around.
JMU started the eighth inning with a runner on second due to the international tie breaker effect and would score a run to take the lead.
The Sun Devils loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame with one out but a force out at home and strikeout would end the threat as the Devils came just shy of upsetting the top-10 foe.
Ohio State 11, ASU 5
Dale Ryndak started the second game, pitching four innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs and two strike outs. Breanna Macha took the loss after entering in the fifth, allowing four hits and three earned runs. Kessler also saw time on the in the circle, giving up six hits and six earned runs as the Buckeyes poured it on in the seventh inning to put a close game out of reach.
ASU dropped the second game against OSU despite taking the game’s first lead and getting within one run in the sixth inning. Abby Spiel walked and stole second in the fifth inning then scored on a Jenn Soria double. Nichole Chilson singled to score Soria for the Sun Devil’s second lead of the contest.
The Buckeyes regained the lead in the following frame scoring three runs, highlighted by a two-run home run off the bat of Ashley Goodwin that came immediately after a very close call on a pitch that looked to be an inning-ending strikeout but was ruled a ball. Ohio State tacked on six more runs in the seventh and made it a 11-4 game.
Despite being down with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, ASU loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, and managed to cross one run across the plate.