TEMPE -- The Arizona State University softball team will conclude the regular season this week, heading on the road for a three-game series at Oregon State in Corvallis with potentially large postseason implications. The series will get underway on Thursday, May 12.
All three contests will be held in the afternoon with the opening tilt set for a 3 p.m. PT first pitch. Friday’s game is scheduled for 2 p.m. while the finale will be held at Noon PT on Saturday. All three games are scheduled to be shown in some form by the Pac-12 Networks. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will cap off the weekend on Sunday, May 15 at 7 p.m. PT on ESPNU.
#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 15 errors in last 29 games (.52 pg)
- The Sun Devils lead the @Pac12 with a .980 fielding percentage in league games with just 11 errors.
- Nikki Girard’s .968 fielding percentage is the highest among @Pac12 second basemen and she hasn’t had an error in 23 games.
- Taylor Becerra is the second-best fielding third baseman in the @Pac12 by percentage w/ her .971 clip - 2nd at ASU in last 25 years.
- Jennifer Soria has a hit in 11 straight games, the longest active streak on the team and the second-longest streak for the Devils this season.
- Chelsea Gonzales has set a career high with 47 RBIs this season, leading the team with 14 multi-RBI games thus far on the year.
- With three home runs in her last four games, @katee_aguirre is among the hottest players on the team.
- After struggling in the field early (13 errors in 21 games), shortstop @cgonzales112 has just three errors in her last 31 games.
- Sashel Palacios has a hit in 12 of her last 14 games and has posted multiple hits in six of those games, 2nd on the team in Pac-12 batting average.
- ASU’s 62 home runs are good for 15th in the nation and notable as the team returned just 29 of the home runs it hit last year.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION
Fans will be able to view each game in the series via some medium or another.
Thursday’s tilt will be shown live on the Pac-12 Networks national channel, as well as Pac-12 Arizona/Oregon. Friday and Saturday’s contests will ONLY be televised on the regional networks on Pac-12 Arizona/Oregon. Fans are encouraged to check their local listings for Pac-12 Network coverage in their area. Dependent on their cable provider, fans will also be able to watch each game of the series via live stream at www.Pac-12.com/live.
Elise Woodward and Kenzie Fowler will provide the call from Corvallis for all three games.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
ASU is 75-29 all-time against Oregon State and winners of 10 of the last 14 contests. However, the Beavers did come out on top in the series the last time the Devils visited Corvallis, taking the series two games to one.
This season, OSU is 28-18-1 and 7-14 in Pac-12 games. A big factor in the success of this year’s Oregon State softball team has been the pitching, highlighted by the play of freshman right-hander Meehra Nelson. A top-25 finalist for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year, Nelson has gone 15-8 with six saves to open her collegiate career and ranks sixth in the nation in saves as well as 29th in strikeouts (192). Nelson leads all Pac-12 freshmen in six significant categories, including saves, strikeouts, batters struck out looking (63), innings pitched (152.2), batting average against (.197) and total appearances (38).
Redshirt junior Natalie Hampton has the Pac-12’s No. 8 RBI total (47) and is batting .336 with nine home runs and 10 doubles this season from the cleanup spot in the lineup. Sophomore shortstop McKenna Arriola leads the team with a .376 batting average. She also leads the team in on-base percentage (.447) and hits (59, eighth in Pac-12).
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 .360 on the season (second on the team) and leads the team with 14 home runs after having just eight total in her career prior to this year.
- Her 51 runs scored this year are 15 more than any other Devil and fourth in the Pac-12.
- Soria has advanced runners 47 times on 86 chances this season (.547) and is second on the team with 17 hits with runners in scoring position.
- With 11 doubles this season, Soria leads the team and has surpassed her career total of eight entering the season.
- Soria is an absolutely deadly hitter when she gets ahead in the count where she’s 25-of-51 (.490) when she puts the ball in play. She’s worked the count full 23 times this season, good for third on the team, and is 5-for-12 on the payoff pitch with a team-leading nine walks to just two Ks for a .667 OBP.
- Soria leads the team in batting at a .529 clip as a leadoff hitter (27-of-51).
- Soria’s defense is good for just about a highlight a game and earned her Pac-12 All-Defensive honors last season. She’s accounted for 90 putouts in center field this season, 23 more than any other pure centerfielder in the conference (Cal’s Jazmyn Jackson has 84 putouts but spent the pre-conference season in left field and the infield) and 26 more than any Sun Devil player in at least a decade.
- The senior brings a team-leading 11-game hitting streak into the weekend and has multiple hits in six of those, leading the team with 18 multi-hit games overall. The 11-game hit streak is the second longest by any Sun Devil this year.
- Soria 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.
- As if all that weren’t enough, Soria was selected to the CoSIDA District VIII All-Academic Team as well.
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 .327 in 2016 and has spent the majority of the season in the cleanup spot.
- A proven gap-hitter, Girard is tied for eighth in ASU history with 39 career doubles and is second on the Sun Devils with 10 this season.
- Girard has been otherworldly with runners in scoring position this season and is 29-for-61 on the year (.475) 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.
- Girard leads the team with 56 instances of advancing a runner on 86 chances (.651).
- All but 21 of her 50 hits this season have come with a runner in scoring position and she leads the closest Sun Devil by 13 hits in the category.
- She is second on the squad with 45 RBIs - just outside the top 10 in the conference and already 14 more than her previous career best.
- 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 at second base with her .968 fielding percentage this year good for the highest mark among all Pac-12 second basemen. Girard has not had an error since March 18 against Arizona - the very first game of the Pac-12 schedule.
- 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.
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. She’s continued to be one of ASU’s most consistent players day-to-day this season.
- Palacios is one of ASU’s most consistent hitters and currently holds the team’s third-ongest hitting streak on the season at 10 games.
- After an 11-game stretch prior to the Washington series where she managed just two hits, Palacios has since had a hit in 12 of the last 14 games and has multiple hits in six of those.
- Once at the bottom of the team’s starters in batting average earlier this season, Palacios has climbed 40 points in Pac-12 action and enters the weekend fifth on the team with a .339 average and second on the squad with a .388 average in Pac-12 competition. She has six home runs - tied for fourth on the team - and 25 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.
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 is second on the team with 12 home runs and leads the squad with 47 RBIs this season (a career high), totals good for seventh and eighth 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 three errors in her last 31 games.
- Gonzales has 18 two-out RBIs - leading the team and a staple of her career at ASU. She leads the team with 14 multi-RBI games and is second with 14 multi-hit games as well. She has a hit in 10 of the last 13 games and multiple hits in five of those.
- Gonzales has 53 instances of advancing a runner on 91 chances (.582) and leads the team with 24 instances of advancing a runner despite an out, including a Pac-12-leading five sacrifice flies.
- 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 14th all-time with 31 home runs and 14th with 130 RBI.
KICKING IT INTO AGUIRRE
Senior catcher Katee Aguirre looks to have a much larger role in 2016 behind the plate in both senses.
- Aguirre has been one of ASU’s most consistent players in Pac-12 action, logging a hit in all but five conference games to day and entering the weekend with hits in eight of her last nine games and homering in each of the last two contests,
- A sub-.300 career hitter entering the year, Aguirre is batting .323 this season with 29 RBIs and eight homers - good for third on the team
- With eight doubles this season, Aguirre has crushed her previous career total of one in the category.
- Her 29 RBIs are fourth on the team and notable as she had just 13 total RBIs in all of 2015.
- Aguirre has the team’s second-longest hitting streak this season at 10 games.
- Aguirre leads the Pac-12 with two runners picked off this year and the Sun Devils are fourth in the league in catching eight runners stealing this season thanks in large part to Aguirre.
- 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.
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 .346 average this season with 26 RBIs - fifth on the team - and a .422 OBP.
- The sophomore has been ASU’s most consistent batter with two outs this year, batting 19-for-48 (.396) on the season when it’s up to her to keep the inning alive, the highest average on the team and the most hits in that situation. She’s third on the team with 13 two-out RBIs this season.
- Chilson is third on the team with 16 hits.
- Four times this season has Chilson logged three or more RBIs in a single game, third team lead in the category while her four games with three or more hits are tied for the team lead.
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.
- One of the more underrated aspects of Becerra’s game is her defense. The freshman is fielding at a .971 clip at third base this season. That’s the second highest fielding percentage among all Pac-12 third baseman and the second highest fielding percentage for a Sun Devil at third base in at least the last 25 years behind only All-American Krista Donnenwirth’s 2011 .988 fielding percentage. Becerra has the highest fielding percentage for a freshman playing third base at ASU in at least 25 years.
- Becerra has been a pleasant surprise this season and is second on the team with a .355 average and with a .433 OBP.
- 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 later in the season as well
- As a leadoff batter, Becerra has been admirable, reaching on 19-of-41 (.463) chances this season.
- The freshman has been elite when it comes to moving baserunners as she is among the team leaders with a .623 clip this season, advancing runners on 43-of-69 chances.
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 .328 this season and is second on the team with 36 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, second in the Pac-12 in the category.
- A speedy slap-hitter, Spiel’s forte has been advancing baserunners this year and she is one of the best at advancing runners at a .622 clip (46-of-74) while her .361 average with runners in scoring position is second on the team.
- 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.
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 15-10 on the season with two saves. Her 15 wins are tied for seventh in the conference.
- 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 over 150 innings pitched with a 3.17 ERA to date, pitching a Pac-12 leading 170.0 total innings - second in the league
- The junior leads the way with 164 strikeouts, a total that is over three times more than any other pitcher on the squad and currently good for fourth in the conference.
- Her 530 career strikeouts (including her time at Kansas) currently rank 10th among all the NCAA Division I junior pitchers in the nation and 29th among all active pitchers in their careers.
- Kessler has been exceptional at getting ahead of the count, throwing first pitch strikes 64 percent of the time this season and throwing a strike on 57 percent of her 0-1 counts.
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 a respectable 4.05 ERA - down over a point from last season - and has posted an 8-5 record with one save.
- The sophomore has struck out 42 batters this season and allowed just 19 walks in 86.1 IP, a total that is tied for ninth nationally among pitchers with over 80 innings pitched in fewest walks allowed
- 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.
- 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 off 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 currently leads the team with a .405 average - good for ninth in the Pac-12 - while her .500 on-base percentage is fifth in the league.
- The freshman has been ASU’s best hitter in Pac-12 games, batting at a .417 clips with a .523 on-base percentage.
- Leilua is one of just two 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.
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 43-of-104 (.413) when facing a full count and putting the ball into play.
- The Sun Devils have drawn a walk 46 times to 17 strikeouts with a full count, led by nine walks from Jennifer Soria and six from Taylor Becerra and Fa Leilua. With the 46 walks included, ASU has a .585 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 148 full counts this season, Kessler has allowed batters to hit just 9-for-75 (.132) when putting the ball into play with 36 strikeouts.
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 have 168 walks this season, a total that is ranked 26th among power conference teams nationally.
- On the flip side, the ASU pitching staff has allowed just 104 walks this season, ranked third in Pac-12 in fewest walks allowed to date and 10th-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 of the year, ASU had 27 errors (1.2 per game) and was fielding at just a .956 clip.
- Since then, ASU has just 15 errors in its last 29 games (.52 per game) while fielding .982.
- 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 three errors in her last 31 games.
- ASU’s .980 fielding percentage in Pac-12 games to date leads the conference while the team’s 11 errors in league play are four fewer than any other team.
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 49 bases to date, 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 33rd 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 are tied for second in the conference.
- On the flip side, ASU has thrown out eight runners attempting to steal a base this season - good for fourth in the Pac-12.
- ASU has used pinch runners 98 times in thus far and brought those pinch runners home on 40 occasions (.408).
- ASU has laid down 28 sacrifice bunts this season (fourth in the Pac-12) 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 62 home runs in 2016, tied for 15th 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 60 doubles to date and Jenn Soria and Nikki Girard are both ranked in the top 10 in the Pac-12 in the category with 11 and 10, respectively.
- As a team, ASU is batting .327 heading into the weekend, 20 points higher than it was batting at this point last season, and the 23rd-highest batting average in the nation this season.
- Nine Sun Devils with the minimum number of at-bats this season are batting over .300, compared to just six last 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 (.355) and Fa Leilua (.405), a player that saw two at-bats last season in Nichole Chilson (.346) and a senior that had a career .244 average coming into the year in Jennifer Soria (.360).
- Despite being a three-year starter, Nikki Girard was just a .259 career hitter coming into 2016. This season she’s already set a new single season RBI mark with 45, a new home run high at six and is batting at a .327 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 (153) appears to be on pace to top her previous high of 160 from last season as well, as does Sashel Palacios (112 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 continued to struggke in is keeping the ball in the park after a terrible year in the category last season.
- ASU has allowed 57 home runs to date. Through this point last year, ASU had given up 75 homers. Unfortunately, home runs have been the bane of the team this year as well. 105 of the 214 runs given up by ASU this year (49 percent) have been by way of homer.
- 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 this year, however, allowing just 38 doubles as a pitching staff (and due to an incredibly speedy outfield), the 19th-lowest total in the NCAA.
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 .314 as a team (155-of-494) with runners in scoring position this season while limiting opponents to just 100 hits with RISP.
- Nikki Girard has paved that attack with 29 hits on 61 at bats with runners in scoring position while ninedifferent Sun Devils have double-digit hits with runners in scoring position.