Tempe, Ariz.- The 21st- ranked Arizona State Sun Devil softball team opened their three-game weekend series against Nebraska Friday night with a five-inning, 12-1, run-rule victory at Farrington Stadium.
"Nebraska is a really good team and today a couple things just didn't go their way," head coach Trisha Ford said. "We took advantage of those things tonight, which is what good teams do. They're going to come back tomorrow ready for us. I know what Nebraska is about, so it's going to be good for us to have that challenge."
The Sun Devil offense did not wait to do damage as they put up a five-spot in the bottom half of the first inning. Senior catcher, Sashel Palacios ignited the offense after hitting a grand slam over the right field wall to give the Sun Devils an early 4-0 lead. Sophomore, Fa Leilua followed with an RBI single that brought in Marisa Stankiewicz which extended their lead to 5-0 after one inning of play.
"The coaching staff always talks about being aggressive and swinging out of our shoes," Palacios said. "I feel like at the beginning of the year we were kind of complacent and waiting in the box and taking some good pitches and that is something the coaches really harped this week at practice and I think it made a difference today. It was huge game offensively and I think it was because we were more aggressive at the plate."
Arizona State's momentum did not slow down in the bottom of the second, as freshman Randi Farricker opened the inning with an RBI-triple to right center, marking her fourth extra base hit of the season. Senior shortstop, Chelsea Gonzales added an RBI double later in the inning, extending the Sun Devils' lead to 6-0. The RBI for Gonzales tied her for with Alix Jones (2011-14) for 10th- place all-time in career RBI at ASU, with 154.
The scoring in the second continued for the Sun Devils when Margaret Stahm hit a hard base hit the Nebraska shortstop could not handle, plating Sashel Palacios. ASU would cap the seven run second inning with a Fa Leilua three-run homerun over the centerfield wall extending, the Sun Devil lead to 12 runs which would stand for the remainder of the game. The seven run second marked the highest scoring inning for the Sun Devils since March 11, 2016 when ASU combined for an eight-run fourth inning against Georgetown.
"We studied our swings and had a couple things that we really worked hard on like being aggressive," Ford said. "There were some things I think we tidied up a bit and I was really happy with their approach and aggressiveness in the box."
Defensively, the ASU pitching staff was solid in the five innings of play. Junior, Breanna Macha had the ball in the circle for the Sun Devils through four innings and Dale Ryndak came in to close out the fifth. The Sun Devil pitchers combined to hold Nebraska to a total of four hits and one earned run, giving up just one walk through the five inning game.
"Something that we talked about in the beginning of the year was that we're going to mix it up a bit," Ford added. "Macha has to be ready to come out and close and Dale has to be ready to close and I think Dale came out and really pounded that strike zone. Our pitching staff is keeping us in games and that's what we ask of them."
The Sun Devils will be back in action Saturday, March 11th to face the Nebraska in game two of the series at Farrington Stadium. First pitch for Saturday's contest is slated for 6 p.m. MST. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2017 Sun Devil softball season by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.