TEMPE, Ariz. -- The 23rd- ranked Arizona State softball team fell to No. 10 Utah in the rubber game of the weekend series, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at Farrington Stadium.
Pitching ruled the day as both offenses struggled to find build momentum and sustain rallies.
The Sun Devils (27-14, 6-9) got a fantastic start in the circle from freshman Alyssa Loza. Loza managed to keep a potent Utah offense off the board for the first three innings.
Loza threw her first career complete game, allowing just two runs on three hits while striking out three. Loza, whose previous career-high in innings pitched was five, went the distance and managed to keep the Sun Devils in the game, in just her first Pac-12 start of the season.
Utah starter Katie Donovan matched Loza pitch-for-pitch threw five innings of work. Donovan allowed just one run and two hits, but walked four batters in her five innings of work. The Sun Devils walked a total of 13 times on the weekend.
Arizona State was the first side to threaten to put a run on the board with two runners reaching base in the first two innings.
The middle of the order put the Utes on the board first in the top half of the fourth inning. A leadoff walk followed by a single from Utes second baseman Hannah Flippen put a pair of runners on and represented the first sight of trouble on the day for Loza. Loza would recover quickly, retiring the next three batters on groundouts, one of those an RBI-groundout from third baseman Heather Bowen that would give Utah a 1-0 lead.
Remaining hitless into the fifth inning, the Devils would erase the lead with a run in the fifth inning as Infielder Margaret Stahm recorded ASU's first hit, a one out double putting a runner in scoring position for the top of the order. Third baseman Taylor Becerra came through in a big spot, delivering an RBI-single to score Stahm from second and knot the game at one.
The game stayed tied going into the seventh, despite a scoring threat from Arizona State after a pair of runners reach base in the bottom of the sixth, but a home run from first baseman Bridget Castro put Utah on top 2-1.
Arizona State, as they had all weekend, fought until the final out, as outfielder Nichole Chilson lead off the seventh with a leadoff double that was just a few inches from clearing the left field wall. Chilson would advanced to third thanks to a sacrifice bunt from Margaret Stahm, followed by a two out walk from Skylar McCarty to put runners on the corners. The attempted seventh inning rally would fall short with a flyout to deep center, ending the game by a final score of 2-1.
Arizona State will return to the field next weekend with a three game set at No. 3 Arizona. Game one of the series is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. and will be telivised on the Pac-12 Network. Fans can stay up to date with ASU softball by following @AsuSoftball on Twitter.