TEMPE -- The No. 22/24 Arizona State University softball team (27-13, 3-6 Pac-12) looks to shake off a rough weekend at home this week as it heads on the road to take on Utah in Salt Lake City. The three-game series is the Pac-12 Network featured series of the week and will get underway on Saturday, April 16 at 3 p.m. PT.
Sunday and Monday’s contests are both scheduled for a 6 p.m. PT first pitch and will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks national feed.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
Fans will be able to view or listen to each game in the series via some medium or another. Jim Watson and Teri Goldberg will provide the call.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Arizona and Mountain while Sunday and Monday’s contests will be shown on the above channels as well as the Pac-12 Network national feed. Fans are encouraged to check their local listings for Pac-12 Network coverage in their area.
Dependent on provider, fans may also be able to view the game digitally through Pac-12.com/live.
SCOUTING THE UTES
Utah enters the series with a solid 24-13 record and is 5-4 in Pac-12 action and came in at No. 29 in this week’s RPI rankings. The Sun Devils will be looking to avenge a series loss at home to the Utes last season in which Utah took two out of three in Tempe. ASU owns the all-time series lead, 32-14. This is the Devils’ first trip the Salt Lake City since 2013, a series it also dropped two out of three in.
After three weeks of Pac-12 play, Utah leads the Pac-12 game only rankings league in stolen bases (15), ranks second in slugging (.538), third in batting (.304) and fourth in homers (13) and on-base percentage (.396). Utah currently ranks third in the Pac-12 with a 2.65 earned run average. The Utes have only allowed 13 homers and 100 runs this season, fewest in the Pac-12
Katie Donovan’s 1.90 ERA puts her second in the Pac-12, with opponents batting .227 (4th). She also rates fourth in innings pitched and sixth in strikeouts. Defensively, the Utes are second in the Pac-12 with a .972 fielding percentage. Kristen Stewart and Anissa Urtez are second and third in fielding assists with Hannah Flippen ranking fifth.
THE VIEW FROM THE TOP
- The Sun Devils have been ranked in the NFCA Coaches Poll 166 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 166 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 remained static dropped two spots to No. 22 in this week’s NFCA Coaches Poll and dropped three spots to No. 24 in the ESPN.com rankings. The sweep against Washington didn’t hurt ASU in the RPI too much, only falling one spot to No. 25.
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 13-6 on the season with a team-leading two saves.
- It should be noted that three of Kessler’s losses have come in games where she has allowed one or fewer earned runs and in all three of those games, the eventually winning run was unearned (two international tiebreakers runs in extra innings against Fullerton and No. 9 James Madison and two unearned seventh inning runs following an infield error against Arizona).
- She is fourth in the Pac-12 among pitchers with over 100 innings pitched with a 2.59 ERA to date and 30th nationally with four shutouts this season.
- The junior leads the way with 141 strikeouts, a total that is over three times more than any other pitcher on the squad and currently good for third in the conference and just outside the top 30 nationally.
- Her 507 career strikeouts (including her time at Kansas) currently rank seventh among all the NCAA Division I junior pitchers in the nation and 24th among all active pitchers in their careers.
- She has allowed just 35 walks this season for a 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
- Kessler has been exceptional at getting ahead of the count, throwing first pitch strikes 65 percent of the time this season and throwing a strike on 56 percent of her 0-1 counts.
IN THE NIKK OF TIME
The Sun Devils aren’t exactly fielding a 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 has been heavily relied on to help pace ASU this season.
- A career .259 hitter entering the year, Girard is batting .324 in 2016 and spent the majority of the season in the cleanup spot.
- A proven gap-hitter, Girard is tied for ninth in ASU history with 38 career doubles and needs just one to move into a tie for eighth.
- Girard has been otherworldly with runners in scoring position this season and is 22-for-46 on the year (.478) when she has a chance to bring a runner home. That total is especially impressive when you consider she had just 16 hits with RISP in the entirety of 2015.
- All but 14 of her 36 hits this season have come with a runner in scoring position and she leads the closest Sun Devil by seven hits in the category.
- She is second on the squad with 33 RBIs - just outside the top 10 in the conference - and leads the squad with nine 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. She continues to field at a high-clip at one of the toughest positions on the field with her .957 fielding percentage this year.
- 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.
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.
- A career .247 hitter prior to 2016, Soria is batting .342 on the season (fifth on the team) and is tied for the team lead with 11 home runs after having just eight total in her career prior to this year.
- Her 39 runs scored this year are 10 more than any other Devil and tied for fourth in the Pac-12.
- Soria has advanced runners 39 times (second on team) on 67 chances this season (.582) and is third on the team with 13 hits with runners in scoring position.
- With eight doubles this season, Soria has already matched her previous career total of eight entering the season.
- Soria is an absolutely deadly hitter when she gets ahead in the count where she’s 18-of-36 (.500). She’s worked the count full 18 times this season, good for third on the team, and is 5-for-9 on the payoff pitch with a team-leading seven walks to just two Ks for a .750 OBP.
- Soria leads the team in batting at a .513 clip as a leadoff hitter (20-of-39).
- Soria’s defense is good for just about a highlight a game and earned her Pac-12 All-Defensive honors last season.
- The senior was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after the Cal series after she went 7-for-13 on the weekend with a whopping four home runs, slugging an otherworldly 1.462 over the course of three games. She knocked a team-leading six RBIs and scored seven runs in the series, four more than any other player on the roster and nearly a third of the total 22 runs scored by the Sun Devils overall.
- 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 on the team with a .383 average this season with 25 RBIs - fourth on the team - and a .455 OBP.
- The sophomore has been ASU’s most consistent batter with two outs this year, batting 15-for-35 (.429) on the season when it’s up to her to keep the inning alive. She’s third on the team with 12 two-out RBI this season.
- Chilson is second on the team with 15 hits with runners in scoring position with a .366 average on 15-of-41 hitting.
- Four times this season has Chilson logged three or more RBIs in a single game, tied for the team lead in the category while her four games with three or more hits are also leading the team.
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 with a .393 average (11th in the Pac-12) and is second with a .465 OBP.
- Her .393 average is currently ranked 17th among all Division I freshmen this season.
- She had her 12-game hitting streak snapped against Arizona but that streak remains the longest by any Sun Devil this season. She added an eight game-streak that’s tied for the fifth-longest streak on the team.
- As a leadoff batter, Becerra has been admirable, reaching on 14-of-32 (.438) chances this season.
- The freshman has been elite when it comes to moving baserunners as she has done so at a team-leading .660 clip this season, advancing runners on 33-of-50 chances.
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 11 home runs and 39 RBIs this season, totals good for third and sixth in the conference, respectively.
- After struggling in the field early this season wtih 13 errors in the first 21 games of action, Gonzales has been exceptional with just one error in her last 19 games.
- Gonzales’ pop in the lineup plays a heavy factor in the success of the team. In ASU’s 27 wins, Gonzales is batting .397 (fourth on team) with nine homers and 27 RBIs while slugging a team-leading .824. In ASU’s 13 losses, Gonzales is .225 (10th on team) with just two homers, 12 RBIs and a .295 on-base percentage.
- Gonzales has 16 two-out RBIs - easily leading the team and a staple of her career at ASU.
- There have been numerous times this season that opponents have avoided Gonzales in the lineup, demonstrated by her 17 walks - just outside the top-10 in the Pac-12 this season.
- 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.
- Gonzales continues her climb up the ASU record books, now 15th all-time with 29 home runs and 15th with 121 RBI.
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 .347 this season (fourth on team) and is second on the team with 29 runs scored.
- She has knocked nine RBIs this season, which is notable as she had just five in her career entering 2016.
- Spiel is 13-for-14 on stolen bases this season, leading the team in the category and tied for the Pac-12 lead.
- A speedy slap-hitter, Spiel’s forte has been advancing baserunners this year and she is second on the team in advancing runner at a .638 clip (37-of-57).
- Spiel holds ASU’s longest reach base streak this season with her 14-straight games doing so early this year.
- Last season, she finished the season with the team’s second-highest batting average with a .364 clip on 28-of-77 hitting.
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 respectable 3.38 ERA and has posted a solid 8-2 record with one save.
- The sophomore has struck out 34 batters this season and allowed just 10 walks in 58.0 IP, a total that is tied for sixth nationally among pitchers with over 50 innings pitched.
- The sophomore has been tough to get a hit off of when she has runners in scoring position as the opposition is 12-for-66 (.182) against her when she gets in a jam this year.
- She’s also efficiently closed out innings as opponents are just 4-of-31 (.129) 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 6-5 with 31 strikeouts while allowing just 10 home runs, just outside the top-10 for lowest total in the Pac-12 this year. She had given up 26 through 40 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 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.
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 third on the team with a .379 average with six home runs and four doubles on 25 hits for a .712 slugging percentage, second on the team across all players.
- Leilua is one of just four ASU players who have maintained over a .350 average in a all of ASU’s wins as well as in all of the team’s losses.
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 is one of ASU’s most consistent hitters and currently holds the team’s second longest hitting streak on the season at 10 games.
- Despite her typical consistency, Palacios struggled in an 11 game stretch prior to the Washington series where she had just two hits total. She posted three hits in the final two games against UW, including the first two-home run game of her career to cap off the series.
- Palacios is batting .295 on the year with four homers and 21 RBIs.
- 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 didn’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, fourth on the team with six doubles this season while posting a .326 overall average.
- With six doubles this season, Aguirre has crushed her previous career total of one in the category.
- Her 16 RBIs are seventh on the team and notable as she had just 13 total RBIs in all of 2015.
- Aguirre currently has the team’s longest active hitting streak at nine games, the third-longest streak all season for the Sun Devils.
- 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.
FULL COUNT ON ME
ASU put up exceptional numbers last season and had an uncanny way of finding success with a full count and little has changed this year.
- Of the Devils with the minimum number of at-bats this year, ASU is 36-of-84 (.428) when facing a full count.
- The Sun Devils have drawn a walk 36 times to 18 strikeouts with a full count, led by seven walks from Jennifer Soria and five from Taylor Becerra. With the 36 walks included, ASU has a .600 on-base percentage with a full count.
- On the flip side, RHP Kelsey Kessler has absolutely thrived when she gets hitters in a full-count situation. Facing 79 full counts this season, Kessler has allowed batters to hit just 5-for-59 (.085) with 31 strikeouts to 20 free passes.
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 third in the Pac-12 with 133 walks this season, a total that is ranked 46th nationally.
- On the flip side, the ASU pitching staff has allowed just 68 walks this season, ranked second in Pac-12 in fewest walks allowed to date and sixth fewest among all Power Five programs.
- ASU had 276 walks overall in 2015 --the eighth-highest total nationally- to create nearly a 2:1 walk to strikeout ratio.
KEEP IT CLEAN
The Sun Devils have always prided themselves on being exceptional both at the plate and in the field and ASU has done a solid job of cleaning up its defense in recent weeks.
- In the first 23 games, ASU had 27 errors (1.2 per game) and was fielding at just a .956 clip.
- Since then ASU has just eight errors in its last 17 games (.47 per game) while fielding .981.
- Chelsea Gonzales has returned to her Pac-12 All-Defensive self to lead the charge. After struggling in the field early this season wtih 13 errors in the first 21 games of action, Gonzales has had just one error in her last 19 games.
- ASU’s .983 fielding percentage in Pac-12 games to date leads the conference.
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 expected a slightly different offense than they might be accustomed to and part of that success is coming on the base path.
- The Devils have stolen 46 bases to date, a very notable tally as ASU had just 12 TOTAL steals in the 2015 campaign. The total is currently second in the Pac-12 and in 23rd nationally among Power Five teams after finishing as one of the 10 worst clubs overall in the nation in the category in 2015.
- Abby Spiel’s 13 stolen bases this season and are tied for the Pac-12 lead.
- On the flip side, ASU has thrown out eight runners attempting to steal a base this season - good for second in the Pac-12.
- ASU has used pinch runners 68 times in 40 games thus far and brought those pinch runners home on 31 occasions (.456).
- ASU has already laid down 21 sacrifice bunts already this season compared to having five TOTAL in 2015.
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. But, behind Robert Wagner’s offensive coaching prowess, the storyline has been anything but that so far this season.
- The Devils have hit 52 home runs in 2016, tied for eighth nationally and third in the Pac-12. The total is notable as those returning to the team this season combined for a total of just 29 of the home runs hit last year after the graduation of five power-hitting seniors.
- ASU has hit 51 doubles to date, nearly on pace for the total it had at this point last season despite the loss of power in the lineup.
- As a team, ASU is batting .329 heading into the weekend, nearly 30 points higher than it was batting at this point last season, and the 18th highest batting average in the nation this season.
THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
The Sun Devils lost five all-conference caliber players after last season and returned just one multi-year starter in Nikki Girard. Needing a large number of players to step up this season in that absence, ASU has gone above and beyond what might have been expected.
- Four of the top five hitters for the Sun Devils this season include two true freshmen in Taylor Becerra (.393) and Fa Leilua (.379), a player that saw two at-bats last season in Nichole Chilson (.383) and a senior that had a career .247 average coming into the year in Jenn Soria (342).
- Despite being a three-year starter, Girard was just a .259 career hitter coming into 2016. This season she’s already set a new single season RBI mark with 33, a new home run high at six and is batting at a .324 clip to boot.
- If you were to include freshmen, entering the weekend there are just THREE Sun Devils on the roster that do not already have a career high in at-bats. Nikki Girard (111) appears to be on pace to top her previous high of 160 from last season as well, as does Sashel Palacios (78 at-bats this year after 124 last season).
- If Girard and Palacios continue their current pace, the only member of the roster that might not reach a career high in at-bats this season is Chelsea Gonzales.
KEEPING IT IN THE PARK
One area the Sun Devil pitching staff has slightly improved in is keeping the ball in the park after a terrible year in the category last season.
- ASU has allowed 38 home runs to date. Through this point last year, ASU had given up 49 homers. Unfortunately, even without including the runners on base that have come home on those homers, the total already makes up over a quarter of the runs scored against ASU this year.
- 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.
- ASU has done its part to limit extra base hits in general this year, allowing just 27 doubles as a pitching staff (and due to an incredibly speedy outfield), the 14th-lowest total in the NCAA and just two triples (tied for ninth-fewest nationally).
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 .333 as a team (125-of-375) with runners in scoring position this season while limiting opponents to just 60-of-231 hitting (.260) with RISP.
- Nikki Girard has paved that attack with 22 hits on 46 at bats with runners in scoring position while Jennifer Soria, Abby Spiel, Chelsea Gonzales and Nichole Chilson all have double-digit hits this season with RISP.