TEMPE – The No. 20 Arizona State softball team lost the second game of the series to No. 12 Washington, 6-1, on Saturday as the team celebrated its annual StrikeOut Cancer game in front of 2,068 fans in Tempe.
The Sun Devils showed some grit in the contest but couldn’t get the big hit when they needed it to close the gap outside of Nichole Chilson’s solo home run in the fourth inning.
Sophomore Breanna Macha (6-5) took the loss in the circle, allowing five earned runs on four hits, with two walks and one strike out. Kelsey Kessler came in on relief and pitched a solid 5.1 innings, giving up just one run on two hits with seven strikeouts.
The Huskies started the game in similar fashion to the first game of the series, with a Kimberlee Souza home run in the first inning for an early 2-0 lead. Washington tagged on three more runs in the second to make it 5-0.
Chilson finally put the Sun Devils on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a solo shot – her sixth of the year - to center field to cut the deficit to 5-1.
The Huskies regained their five run lead on a solo homer off the bat of Krystal Aubert in the top of the seventh inning.
The Sun Devils and Huskies will play the series finale tomorrow at Farrington Stadium. The pitch is set for 3 p.m. PT and the game will be aired live on Pac-12 Arizona and Washington.