TEMPE -- The No. 21/18 Arizona State University softball team returns to Tempe this weekend to host its final tournament prior the commencement of Pac-12 action. ASU will welcome four teams to Farrington Stadium for the annual Louisville Slugger Invitational, set to begin Friday, March 11.
The Devils open the weekend with a doubleheader on Friday, taking on No. 23 Nebraska at 6 p.m. Arizona time and following that with a contest against Georgetown. ASU will make it two against the Hoyas on Saturday night with a game set for 6 p.m. The Sun Devils then close out the weekend with a Sunday doubleheader, opening the day against ninth-ranked James Madison at 11:30 a.m. and wrapping up the tournament against Ohio State at approximately 1:30 p.m.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
Fans will be able to view or listen to all five games this weekend via one medium or another. Each of the games in the tournament will be streamed live via the Pac-12 Networks Digitial Stream and available at the following link: http://pac-12.com/videos/arizona-state-university-2
Additionally, all five games will be broadcast live through KASC Blaze Radio with an online stream available at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blaze-sports.
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
- The @ASUSoftball hitters are batting .344 this season with runners in scoring position, paced by @nikki_girard’s 17-of-29 hitting w/ RISP.
- ASU has nine players batting over .300 with at least 30 ABs. It has just five at this time a year ago.
- The Sun Devils have been ranked in the @NFCAorg Coaches Poll 161 consecutive times dating back to Week 2 of the 2006 season.
- With 437 career strikeouts, @kezlur is currently ranked seventh among all junior pitchers in NCAA softball in the category.
- Taylor Becerra and Nichole Chilson - a freshman and a ‘15 deep reserve - continue to rank in the @Pac12’s top 10 in AVG and OBP.
- With four homers and two doubles representing six of her 14 hits this season, @leilua18 leads the team with a monstrous .903 slugging percentage
- The Sun Devils have stolen 26 bases this season after stealing just 12 bases in all of 2015.
- Thus far, @dale_hope has allowed just three walks to opponents, a total that ranks in a tie for second nationally among pitchers with 35+ IP.
- The Sun Devils will need just three wins in five game this weekend to achieve the victory No. 1,600 in program history.
- ASU is currently second in the @Pac12 with 82 walks this season while its pitching staff has allowed opponents a free pass just 27 times.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Nebraska is 12-4 this season, including two losses to top-10 opponents and two defeats when the Huskers held a seventh-inning lead. Nebraska is 6-1 when trailing after five innings and 2-2 when trailing after six innings. Junior MJ Knighten is homering at a record pace, slugging 11 homers to lead the Big Ten and rank second nationally. Senior Emily Lockman, who has won six straight regular-season decisions, has allowed three earned runs or less in 10 straight appearances dating back to 2015. Going back further, Lockman has allowed more than three earned runs only once in her last 19 outings. The Huskers rank fourth nationally in home runs per game (1.6) and 11th in total home runs (26).
Georgetown is led by Samantha Giovanniello, named the Big EAST Player of the Week this week. The senior leads the team with a .409 average this season and has five of the team’s 11 home runs. The team also gets some pop in the lineup from freshman catcher Sarah Bennett, who is batting .313 on the season with three homers and a team-leading five doubles while her 17 RBIs are second only to Giovanniello. Giovanniello is also the team’s ace pitcher as she has pitched seven complete games this season with a 4-6 record and a 6.22 ERA. The Hoyas have struggled in the circle to date, posting just a 6.83 combine dERA with only 40 strikeouts compared to 82 walks.
Ninth-ranked James Madison swept the CAA Player and Pitcher of the Week honors behind Niki Prince and Jailyn Ford. The team is led by an incredible 1-2 punch in the circle of Megan Good and Jailyn Ford, who have ERAs of 0.79 and .0.85, respectively, while pitching all but six innings of action for the Dukes this year. The duo gets it done at the plate as well, with Ford batting .356 and Good at .344 with 25 RBIs between them, five home runs, two triples and 11 doubles. JMU is batting .322 as a squad while limiting its opposition to just a .166 average and has four wins against ranked squads this year with the lone loss coming in a 2-1 decision to then fifth-ranked Alabama.
Leading the way offensively for Ohio State is last week’s Big Ten and NFCA National Player of the Week, senior Cammi Prantl, who is hitting .395 with 11 RBIs, nine runs scored and a .632 slugging percentage. Ohio State’s pitching staff is tops in the Big Ten and 17th nationally with a 1.75 ERA. Over 84 innings, the group has allowed just 21 earned runs while maintaining a nearly 2:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (82 strikeouts, 44 walks). Amongst the five pitchers that have seen action, Shelby Hursh leads the way with 35.1 innings, a 1.39 ERA and 43 strikeouts. In addition to strong pitching, OSU has also been stellar on defense this year, ranking second in the conference with a .972 fielding percentage.
THE VIEW FROM THE TOP
- The Sun Devils have been ranked in the NFCA Coaches Poll 161 consecutive times, a streak that dates back to Week 2 of the 2006 season.
- The Sun Devils entered the top-10 in Week 6 of that season and have since been ranked in the top 10 in 129 of the 161 polls that have taken place since the team entered the rankings in 2006.
- ASU is one of just five programs to lay a claim to being in every poll since early in that 2006 season, joining Michigan, UCLA, Oklahoma and Alabama at the top of the list.
- The Sun Devils inclusion in the Top 25 in this year’s NFCA Preseason Poll marks the 10th consecutive preseason poll the Sun Devils have made an appearance.
- The Sun Devils dropped two spots to No. 21 in the NFCA Coaches Poll this week and one spot to No. 18 in the ESPN.com rankings after a 3-3 weekend in Fulerton.
IN THE NIKK OF TIME
The Sun Devils aren’t exactly fielding a true team of veterans in 2016 and the only multi-year starter in the field coming into the year was senior Nikki Girard. As a result, her leadership will be heavily relied on to help pace ASU this season.
- A proven gap-hitter, Girard is tied for 12th in ASU history with 36 career doubles.
- Girard has been otherworldly with runners in scoring position this season and is 17-for-29 on the year (.586) when she has a chance to bring a runner home. That total is especially impressive when you consider she had just 17 hits with RISP in the entirety of 2015. All but eight of her hits this season have come with a runner in scoring position and she also leads the team with 11 two-out RBIs.
- She is second on the team with 21 RBIs this season and leads the squad with seven doubles.
- Perhaps the most exciting aspect of her game, however, is her ability to post at least one highlight reel defensive play per game at second base as she finished the year with a solid .963 fielding percentage last season and earned a spot on the All-Pac-12 Defensive team as a result.
- Girard was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after a stellar weekend at the Diamond Devil Invite where she when 10-for-12 with nine RBI and slugging 1.414.
GET ON BASE AND CHIL
Nichole Chilson came in this season under the radar after seeing limited action as a freshman, but the sophomore is quietly putting up some of the best numbers on the team.
- Chilson is second among the team’s starters with a .426 average this season with 16 RBIs and a .508 OBP. She is currently 10th in the Pac-12 in average and eighth in on-base percentage.
- The sophomore has been ASU’s most consistent batter with two outs this year, batting 10-for-17 (.588) on the season when it’s up to her to keep the inning alive.
CHELSEA LATELY
Entering the season, there wasn’t much doubt that Chelsea Gonzales would be the top returning bat in the Sun Devil order this year and she has more than lived up to that billing thus far.
- Gonzales leads the Sun Devils leads the Sun Devils with six home runs and 22 RBIs this season, totals good for fourth and sixth in the conference, respectively.
- Gonzales has 10 two-out RBIs - second on the team and a staple of her career at ASU.
- In her first season as starting shortstop last year, Gonzales finished with 122 assists and 102 putouts to just 10 errors (.957 fielding percentage). Her .957 fielding percentage was second among Pac-12 shortstops behind only Utah’s Anissa Urtez (.958), who did so in 43 fewer chances.
- With 25 career home runs, the junior is currently 19th in ASU career history in the category.
PUT ME IN, COACH
Senior Jennifer Soria was among ASU’s hottest players to close out the 2015 campaign and looks to carry that into 2016. The recipient of the team’s hardest worker award for two consecutive seasons, Soria perfectly exemplifies the John Fogerty classic at centerfield.
- Soria is batting .371 on the season with a team-leading 13 walks - a total good for second in the Pac-12.
- Her 121 runs scored this year lead the team and tied for sixth in the Pac-12.
- Despite batting at leadoff, Soria was the most potent offensive member of the Sun Devils as they got off to a 6-1 start on the season with an upset of #8 Tenneesee. Soria finished the opening weekend with a .429 batting average (9-of-21) and led the team with nine runs scored.
- Soria has advanced runners 24 times on 36 chances this season (.667) and has been clutch in bring home a runner from third when there are less than two outs on the board, doing so 7 times on 8 chances.
- Against #8 Tennessee, Soria drew the lone walk of the game from UT ace Erin Gabriel with two outs in extra innings. Soria would steal second immediately and move to third on an infield single before sliding in headfirst for the winning run on a passed ball.
- Soria’s defense is good for just about a highlight a game and earned her Pac-12 All-Defensive honors last season.
ABS OF SPIEL
Senior Abby Spiel quietly become a steady contributor to the Sun Devils last season and has been true to that consistent form in 2016.
- Spiel is batting .367 this season and is second on the team with 20 runs scored on the season, which is good for eighth in the Pac-12.
- She has knocked seven RBIs this season, which is notable as she had just five in her career entering 2016.
- Spiel is a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen bases this season, leading the team in the category and tied for sixth in the Pac-12.
- Spiel has been among ASU’s best batters with runners in scoring position with 12 hits on 21 chances (.571).
- Last season, she finished the season with the team’s second-highest batting average with a .364 clip on 28-of-77 hitting.
K IS FOR STRIKEOUT...OR KESSLER...SAME THING
Redshirt junior transfer Kelsey Kessler has quickly become a staple in the ASU pitching rotation and has been ASU’s most consistent ace to date.
- Kessler is 7-3 on the season with a team-leading two saves, which is good for 12th nationally.
- She is fifth in the Pac-12 with a 1.75 ERA to date and eighth nationally with three shutouts this season.
- The junior leads the way with 71 strikeouts, a total that is nearly three times more than any other pitcher on the squad and currently good for fouth in the conference and 24th nationally.
- Her 437 career strikeouts (including her time at Kansas) current rank seventh among all the junior pitchers in the nation.
- She has allowed just nine walks this season for over a 7:1 strikeout to walk ratio while her 0.98 walks allowed per seven innings total is second in the league.
RYNDAK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN
Sophomore RHP Dale Ryndak had a solid freshman campaign last season and is looking to build upon that in year two.
- Ryndak has opened 2016 with a solid 2.67 ERA and is the only undefeated pitcher on the roster at 6-0.
- The sophomore has struck out 25 batters this season and allowed just three walks in 42.0 IP, a total that is tied for second nationally among pitchers with over 35 innings pitched.
- The sophomore has been near impossible to get a hit off of when she has runners in scoring position as the opposition is 5-for-41 (.122) against her when she gets in a jam this year.
- She’s also efficiently closed out innings as opponents are just 2-of-20 (.100) against her when they have runners in scoring position and two outs.
- Ryndak finished with a 14-8 record last season and was fourth in the Pac-12 with 37 batters struck out looking.
- She finished with 143.1 innings pitched on the season, ninth in the conference, and her 82 total strikeouts were 10th in the Pac-12.
BREE IT ON
Breanna Macha established herself as a legitimate pitching option as a true freshman last season and picked up where she left off following a strong finish in 2015.
- The sophomore is currently 5-2 this season with 26 strikeouts while allowing a team-low four home runs. She had given up 10 through 23 games last season.
- Macha led the team as a freshman in wins (18), strikeouts (152) and total ERA (3.69) - the fifth-lowest total in the Pac-12 among pitchers with 40 or more appearances - and earned All-Pac-12 and NFCA All-West Region honors while being named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman team as well.
- Macha (pronounced maw-haw) finished with 152 strikeouts, the fourth highest total in the Pac-12.
- Her 212.1 innings pitched were second most in the conference while she was third in the conference with five saves.
TAYLOR GANG
True freshman Taylor Becerra became the first frosh to earn a starting nod this season, doing so at third base. She became the first true freshman to start for the Sun Devils at third since the person she replaced at that position: Haley Steele back in 2012.
- Becerra has been a pleasant surprise early this season and leads the team’s starters with a .436 average - a total good for eighth in the Pac-12 - while her team-leading .516 OBP sits seventh in the league.
- She enters the weekend with a team-leading seven game active hitting streak.
- The freshman has been elite when it comes to moving baserunners as she has done so at a team-leading .731 clip this season, advancing runners on 19-of-26 chances.
- Becerra’s speed makes her a threat to reach any time she can get the ball into play and caused several errors this season with fielder’s trying to rush throws to first.
FA LEI-BOOM-A
Freshman first baseman Fa Leilua has been ASU’s most active player of the bench this season and sure to become a fan favorite with her awesome name and penchant for hitting the ball out of the park
- Leilua is currently second on the team with four home runs this season.
- She’s added two doubles and as a result, six of her 14 total hits on the year have gone for extra bases.
- Her .903 slugging percentage is nearly 200 points higher than any other Sun Devil with at least 30 at bats.
ADIOS, PALACIOS
Junior catcher Sashel Palacios was perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the 2015 campaign as she went from a reserve role as a freshman to the starting catcher by the midway point of her sophomore season.
- Palacios has been among the hottest hitters on the team and holds ASU’s team high hitting streak of 10 games this season as well as her 13-game reached base streak.
- Palacios is batting .306 on the year with two homers and 14 RBIs and is 7-for-8 this season with a runner on third and less than two outs - leading the Devils in the category.
- She finished fifth on the team with a .323 average last season. Her .459 on-base percentage was good for third on the team and she was incredibly proficient at advancing baserunners, doing so 52 times in 93 opportunities, a .559 average that was third among the team’s starters.
- Her 141 putouts were second on the team and she led the team with five runners thrown out attempting to steal base.
- Palacios doesn’t have an error during the regular season, earning Pac-12 All-Defensive team honors while also being named a Third-Team All-West Region selection.
KICKING IT INTO AGUIRRE
Senior catcher Katee Aguirre looks to have a much larger role in 2016 behind the plate in both senses.
- Katee Aguirre has been solid early for the Sun Devils, third on the team with four doubles this season while posting a .333 overall average. She has thrived with being the first person to get on base for ASU with 10 hits on 19 chances (.526) this season with the bases empty.
- Her 14 RBIs are fifth on the team and notable as she had just 13 total RBIs in all of 2015. Her four home runs are tied for second on the team.
- Last year, Katee Aguirre and Sashel Palacios combined for 173 recorded putouts and 13 assists with ZERO errors during the regular season for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. The duo’s perfect fielding percentage was notable as there were just seven players in the Pac-12 conference with 50 or more chances during the regular season that did not have a single error.
WALK THIS WAY
While ASU’s strikeout numbers may be up a bit compared to last season, the team is still exceptional on getting on base without having to swing the bat
- The Devils are currently second in the Pac-12 with 82 walks this season, a total that is ranked in the top 15 nationally.
- On the flip side, the ASU pitching staff has allowed just 27 walks this season and ranks third in the Pac-12 in fewest walks allowed to date.
- ASU had 276 walks overall in 2015 --the eighth-highest total nationally- to create nearly a 2:1 walk to strikeout ratio.
ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US
ASU lost 64 percent of its extra base hits to graduation following last season and returns just 29 of the 81 home runs the Devils hit on the year (35.8 percent). That said, fans can expect a slightly different offense than they might be accustomed to and part of that success is going to come on the base path.
- The Devils have stolen 26 bases through one month of play, a very notable tally as ASU had just 12 TOTAL steals in the 2015 campaign. The total is currently third in the Pac-12 and in the top 50 nationally out over over 200 teams after finishing as one of the 10 worst clubs in the category in 2015.
- Abby Spiel’s six stolen bases this season are tied for sixth in the Pac-12.
- ASU has used pinch runners 34 times in 23 games thus far and brought those pinch runners home on 20 occasions (.588).
TAKE IT FOR A RIDE
The storyline around the Sun Devils entering the season was that the squad would need to utilize small ball to win games. While the sample size is still small, ASU is winning games in all manner of ways and the extra base hits are certainly a part of that
- The Devils have hit 27 home runs in 2016, ranked in the top-10 nationally and third in the Pac-12 and just five shy of the 2015 total at this point in the year
- ASU has hit 34 doubles to date (fourth in the conference), the same total it had through 23 games last season while the team’s two triples are one more than it had at this point last year.
- As a team, ASU is batting .346 at the 23-game mark, nearly 50 points higher than it was batting last year at this time.
KEEPING IT IN THE PARK
One area the Sun Devil pitching staff will certainly need to improve in is keeping the ball in the park after a terrible year in the category last season.
- The sample size is small but the results look to be there early in 2016 as ASU allowed just 17 home runs in 23 games thus far. Through 23 games last season, ASU had given up 25 homers.
- ASU gave up 81 bombs in 2015 and that ranked as the worst total in the entire nation.
- Of the 266 runs scored against the Devils last season, 130 came as a result of home runs - nearly half of the total runs scored against the Devils on the year.
GOING TO THE CRYSTAL BALL
Robert Wagner has had some pretty impressive success with his pinch-hitting choices this season.
- ASU’s pinch hitters are batting 12-for-44 (.273) this season.
- Nichole Chilson, Sashel Palacios and Fa Leilua have all hit pinch hit homers this season.
- Opponent pinch hitters are just 2-of-15 against ASU thus far (.133).
SCORE MORE TO WIN MORE
Much of ASU’s success this season has been made while capitalizing on having runners in scoring position while limiting the opposition in those circumstances.
- ASU is batting .344 as a team (83-of-241) with runners in scoring position this season while limiting opponents to just 32-of-139 hitting (.230) with RISP.
- Nikki Girard has paved that attack with 147 hits on 29 at bats with runners in scoring position while Jennifer Soria and Nichole Chilson both have double digit hits this season with RISP.