Cathedral City, Calif. – The 17th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devil softball team rebounded Friday morning for a 9-5 victory over LIU Brooklyn on the second day of play for ASU at the 2018 Mary Nutter Classic.
Senior Dale Ryndak threw eight innings in the win, before handing the game off to Breanna Macha who closed things out en route to ASU's 11th win of the season. Ryndak finished the outing allowing just one earned run on ten hits, while picking up a pair of strikeouts.
Following a quiet start, the Sun Devils jumped out in front with a four-run second inning. Bella Loomis, the freshman making her second start at third base, got things started with an RBI single up the middle, before Kindra Hackbarth added an RBI of her own. Jade Gortarez kept the pressure on with a two RBI single to cap the four-run frame.
Following a shutout home-half, the Sun Devils kept the offense rolling in the third, plating two more runs with timely hitting from Fa Leilua and Loomis, to put ASU up, 6-0, heading to the fourth.
The ASU batts would come to life again in the fourth inning, as catcher Maddi Hackbarth launched a three-run blast to straightaway-center to extend the Sun Devil lead to 9-0. The Blackbirds stymied the would-be shutout with a solo shot in the home half of the fourth, sending the game to the fifth with the Devils looking to close things out.
The Blackbirds responded in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of a few Sun Devil fielding errors, to stave off the ASU run-rule victory pulling the score to the 9-5 final.
At the plate, the Sun Devils blasted 13 hits, marking their highest hit total of the season. The nine runs in Friday's contest also ties for a season-high, matching the Devil's offensive output from games against Purdue, Notre Dame and Illinois State.
Arizona State will be back in action on Saturday night when they take on Liberty in the fourth game of the classic. First pitch against the Flames is slated for 8:30 p.m. MST and is scheduled to be streamed live by FloSoftball. Fans can also follow the action by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.
Senior Dale Ryndak threw eight innings in the win, before handing the game off to Breanna Macha who closed things out en route to ASU's 11th win of the season. Ryndak finished the outing allowing just one earned run on ten hits, while picking up a pair of strikeouts.
Following a quiet start, the Sun Devils jumped out in front with a four-run second inning. Bella Loomis, the freshman making her second start at third base, got things started with an RBI single up the middle, before Kindra Hackbarth added an RBI of her own. Jade Gortarez kept the pressure on with a two RBI single to cap the four-run frame.
Following a shutout home-half, the Sun Devils kept the offense rolling in the third, plating two more runs with timely hitting from Fa Leilua and Loomis, to put ASU up, 6-0, heading to the fourth.
The ASU batts would come to life again in the fourth inning, as catcher Maddi Hackbarth launched a three-run blast to straightaway-center to extend the Sun Devil lead to 9-0. The Blackbirds stymied the would-be shutout with a solo shot in the home half of the fourth, sending the game to the fifth with the Devils looking to close things out.
The Blackbirds responded in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of a few Sun Devil fielding errors, to stave off the ASU run-rule victory pulling the score to the 9-5 final.
At the plate, the Sun Devils blasted 13 hits, marking their highest hit total of the season. The nine runs in Friday's contest also ties for a season-high, matching the Devil's offensive output from games against Purdue, Notre Dame and Illinois State.
Arizona State will be back in action on Saturday night when they take on Liberty in the fourth game of the classic. First pitch against the Flames is slated for 8:30 p.m. MST and is scheduled to be streamed live by FloSoftball. Fans can also follow the action by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.