TEMPE -- The No. 20/21 Arizona State University softball team (27-10, 3-3 Pac-12) returns home this weekend for a pivotal Pac-12 series against No. 12 Washington, beginning Friday, April 8 at Farrington Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.
The three-game series will be bookended by contests scheduled to be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks in some fashion on Friday and Sunday at 5 p.m. and 3 p.m. PT, respectively. Saturday’s contest at 7 p.m. will not be broadcast on the Networks but will be available via live stream at Pac-12.com/live.
#STRIKEOUTCANCER
Saturday’s contest at 7 p.m. PT will mark ASU’s annual StrikeOut Cancer PINK game. The StrikeOut Cancer initiative is a program through the National Fastpitch Coaches Association to help raise funds and awareness to fight cancer. The program leverages the personal experiences, community leadership, and professional excellence of fastpitch softball coaches nationwide to help increase cancer education and promote healthy living through awareness efforts and fundraising activities. Prior to the game, the team will honor cancer survivors with a parade through the stadium beginning at 6:30 p.m. Those interested in participating should contact 480-727-3534 for more information. There will be 10 PINK team-signed bats available as well as PINK concession specials offered throughout the night.
Other events taking place throughout the weekend include a team trading card giveaway at Friday’s game and a post-game autograph session following Sunday’s contest.
#10THINGS (Twitter-Friendly Notes)
- After starting year with 27 errors in 1st 23 games (1.2 per game), ASU defense has buckled down with just 6 errors in last 14 games (.43 pg)
- The Sun Devils are now second in the Pac-12 and eighth nationally with 47 homers this year.
- The Sun Devils have been ranked in the @NFCAorg Coaches Poll 165 consecutive times dating back to Week 2 of the 2006 season.
- When getting batters into a full count this season, @kezlur has struck out 27 and limited opposition to 4-of-49 (.082) hitting.
- Fun Fact: Combined stats from 10 returners w/ min. ABs:
2013-15 Avg: .288 | SLG: .465 | OBP: .374
2016 Avg: .336 | SLG: .565 | OBP: .409 - In her last 9 starts, @kezlur has posted a 0.87 ERA with 48 strikeouts to just while allowing a paltry total of seven earned runs.
- The Sun Devils have stolen 45 bases this season after stealing just 12 bases in all of 2015.
- After struggling in the field early (13 errors in 21 games), @cgonzales112 is a perfect 45-for-45 fielding in last 16 games.
- ASU’s two @Pac12 Players of Week this year (Soria and Girard) had career averages of .247 and .259 entering ‘16. .368 and .340 this year.
- ASU’s pitching staff and exceptional outfield have allowed opponents to manage just 25 doubles this season, 20th-fewest in the nation.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
Fans will be able to view or listen to each game in the series via some medium or another. Friday’s game will be shown live on the Pac-12 Network nationally, as well as Pac-12 Arizona and Pac-12 Washington. Saturday’s game is not scheduled for a television broadcast but will be streamed live for free at Pac-12.com/live. Sunday’s game will be available on Pac-12 Arizona and Pac-12 Washington but will not be shown on the national network. Krista Blunk and Barb Jordan will be on the call for the two Pac-12 Network contests.
As always, all three home games will be provided live via Blaze Radio and available for free at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/blaze-sports.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Washington (23-8, 4-5 Pac-12) comes into the series with a 51-28 overall record over ASU though the series has gone largely in ASU’s favor since 2011 with the Sun Devils going 10-3 against the Huskies in that span. ASU has gone won six series against UW since 2006, losing two and tying two as well. The two ties came in the last two seasons with rain delays cancelling the rubber match in back-to-back series in Seattle. Pac-12 scheduling anomalies have led to this being just the second time in the last six years that the series will be played in Tempe. ASU won the last series at home, two games to one, in 2013. The series has been one of the most competitive in the Pac-12 in recent seasons with eight of the last nine games being decided by two runs or fewer, including five straight such games.
The 12th-ranked Huskies will provide arguably the toughest offensive test for the Sun Devils this season. Washington comes in ranked in the top-five nationally in batting average, doubles per game, home runs per game, on-base percentage, scoring and slugging percentage and are either first or second in the Pac-12 in all of those categories.
The Huskies come in with a .365 overall average, paced by Ali Aguilar’s All-American caliber season. The junior is batting .412 this season with an incredible 1.021 slugging percentage due to her NCAA-leading 17 home runs. She leads the league with 51 RBIs as well. There are only four players on the UW roster not currently batting over .300 and only one of those players sees significant playing time.
In the circle, UW is similar to ASU in that it runs with three pitchers typically and the ace of that staff has been freshman Taran Alvelo. The youngster have started 16 games for Washington and pitched a team-leading 95.0 innings. A hard-throwing hurler, Alvelo has struck out 103 batters this season but has also given up a team-leading 13 home runs and has the team’s highest ERA at 4.05. Behind her, Madi Schreyer has received the majority of the other starts but Casey Stangel has come on strong in recent weeks and leads the team with a 3.09 ERA and earned both wins in the Arizona series this past weekend.
THE VIEW FROM THE TOP
The Sun Devils have been ranked in the NFCA Coaches Poll 165 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 165 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 at No. 20 in the NFCA Coaches Poll and at No. 21 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll this week. The squad did move up one position to No. 24 in this week’s RPI Rankings.
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 13-5 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 third in the Pac-12 among pitchers with a 2.02 ERA to date and 25th nationally with four shutouts this season.
- The junior leads the way with 125 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 491 career strikeouts (including her time at Kansas) currently rank eighth among all the NCAA Division I junior pitchers in the nation.
- She has allowed just 27 walks this season for over a 4:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
- Kessler has been exceptional in her last 11 STARTS, as she has pitched 69.1 of 77.0 possible innings with a miniscule 1.01 ERA with 59 strikeouts to 15 walks while allowing just 10 earned runs. Shocklingly, despite the dominating efforts, she is 6-4 in those games as the team has struggled to get run support behind her at times.
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 .340 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 13 of her 35 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 - eighth in the conference and already more than her previous season best - 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 .951 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 .368 on the season (fourth on the team) and is tied for the team lead with 10 home runs aftr having just eight total in her career prior to this year.
- Her 37 runs scored this year are eight more than any other Devil and fourth in the Pac-12.
- Soria has advanced runners 37 times (leads team) on 63 chances this season (.587) 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 wherem she’s 17-of-35 (.486). 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 .571 clip as a leadoff hitter (20-of-35).
- 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 third on the team with a .398 average this season with 24 RBIs - fourth on the team - and a .464 OBP.
- The sophomore has been ASU’s most consistent batter with two outs this year, batting 15-for-31 (.484) on the season when it’s up to her to keep the inning alive. That’s three more hits with two outs than any other Sun Devil and she’s second on the team with 13 two-out RBI this season.
- Chilson is second on the team with 15 hits with runners in scoring position with a .385 average on 15-of-39 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 .427 average (sixth in the Pac-12) and is second with a .491 OBP (10th in the Pac-12). Her .427 average is currently ranked sixth 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. Her current eight-game hitting streak is the longest active streak on the team.
- As a leadoff batter, Becerra has been admirable, reaching on 13-of-29 (.448) chances this season.
- The freshman has been elite when it comes to moving baserunners as she has done so at a team-leading .689 clip this season, advancing runners on 31-of-45 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 10 home runs and 34 RBIs this season, totals good for third and seventh 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 perfect 45-for-45 fielding in the last 16 games.
- Gonzales’ pop in the lineup play 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 10 losses, Gonzales is .194 (10th on team) with just one homer, seven RBI and a .265 on-base percentage.
- Gonzales has 11 two-out RBIs - third on 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 - eighth in the Pac-12 -this season to just nine strikeouts.
- 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 .348 this season (fifth 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 12-for-13 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 with 35 advancements on 54 opportunities (.648).
- Spiel enters the weekend with the team’s longest reached base streak of the season still active at 14 games.
- 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 3.07 ERA and has posted a solid 8-1 record with one save.
- The sophomore has struck out 34 batters this season and allowed just nine walks in 57.0 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 11-for-63 (.175) against her when she gets in a jam this year.
- She’s also efficiently closed out innings as opponents are just 3-of-29 (.103) 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 6-4 with 28 strikeouts while allowing just eight home runs, the 10th lowest total in the Pac-12 this year. She had given up 23 through 37 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 second on the team with a .403 average with six home runs and four doubles on 25 hits for a .758 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.
- Palacios is batting .282 on the year with two homers and 18 RBIs and is 9-for-11 this season with a runner on third and less than two outs - the highest average on the team.
- 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 .325 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 is in the midst of a six-game sitting streak, the second-longest active streak 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.
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 33-of-78 (.423) when facing a full count.
- The Sun Devils have drawn a walk 30 times to 13 strikeouts with a full count, led by seven walks from Jennifer Soria and five from Taylor Becerra. With the 32 walks included, ASU has a .591 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 65 full counts this season, Kessler has allowed batters to hit just 4-for-49 (.082) with 27 strikeouts and only 16 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 125 walks this season, a total that is ranked 35th nationally.
- On the flip side, the ASU pitching staff has allowed just 56 walks this season and ranks first in the Pac-12 in fewest walks allowed to date. That total is good for eighth in the country among programs that have pitched a minimum of 200 innings.
- 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 six errors in its last 14 games (.43 per game) while fielding .985.
- Only four of those errors came from field players and 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 been perfect 45-for-45 fielding in the last 16 games.
- ASU’s .988 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 45 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 20th nationally among Power Five teams after finishing as one of the 10 worst clubs in the nation in the category in 2015.
- Abby Spiel’s 12 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 62 times in 37 games thus far and brought those pinch runners home on 28 occasions (.451).
- ASU has already laid down 20 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 47 home runs in 2016, tied for eighth nationally and second 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 50 doubles to date (fourth in the conference), 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 .338 heading into the weekend, 30 points higher than it was batting at this point last season, and the 14th 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.
- The top four hitters for the Sun Devils this season include two true freshmen in Taylor Becerra (.427) and Fa Leilua (.403), a player that saw two at-bats last season in Nichole Chilson (.398) and a senior that had a career .247 average coming into the year.
- 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 .340 clip to boot.
- If you were to include freshmen, entering the weekend there are just FOUR Sun Devils on the roster that do not already have a career high in at-bats. Jennifer Soria (106) with surpass her previous career high at-bats this weekend (109). Nikki Girard (103) appears to be on pace to top her previous high of 160 from last season as well.
- If Girard continues her pace, only Chelsea Gonzales and Sashel Palacios have a chance of not reaching a career high at their current pace.
KEEPING IT IN THE PARK
One area the Sun Devil pitching staff has certainly improved in is keeping the ball in the park after a terrible year in the category last season.
- ASU has allowed just 30 home runs to date. Through this point last year, ASU had given up 43 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.
- Additionally, ASU has done its part to limit extra base hits in general this year, allowing just 25 doubles as a pitching staff (and due to an incredibly speedy outfield), the 20th-lowest total in the NCAA and just two triples (tied for 18th-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 .334 as a team (121-of-3362) with runners in scoring position this season while limiting opponents to just 52-of-214 hitting (.243) 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.