TEMPE, Ariz. -- The sixth-ranked Arizona State softball team defeated Ole Miss, 7-1, to secure a spot in the Tempe Regional Finals on Sunday evening.
"I'm very proud of their effort today," head coach Trisha Ford said. "Yesterday I said we had to hit harder and we hit harder today. Great, great at bats in the box every inning. We're doing some damage. I thought we did a tremendous job coming out. I thought Macha threw lights out. She did just a phenomenal job, her changeup was working. It was money. We executed our game."
Senior Breanna Macha got the start in the circle for the Sun Devils, throwing a complete seven innings in her 18th- start in 2018. The right-hander struck out eight, en route to her 15th- win of the season, and 53rd career victory at ASU.
"These past couple weeks we've really worked on the changeup," Macha said of her outing. "Just getting it feeling good again. Talking with coach, we had a great week of preparation and I think that it goes to show that when we put in the work we can go out and play our game."
The Sun Devil offense jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a ground-out RBI from Jade Gortarez that brought Macha back to the circle working with a narrow lead.
Arizona State would add another run in a wild third inning. Following a lead-off single by Skylar McCarty, the Rebels would induce a fly-out and give up a walk to bring Morgan Howe to the plate with two on and just one away in the inning. The center fielder would lace an infield single that would bring in McCarty from second making it a 2-0 ASU advantage heading to the fourth.
With a narrow 2-0 lead in hand, ASU looked to separate in the middle innings. K. Hackbarth would do her part, launching a three-run shot to left to put the Sun Devils up, 5-0.
Senior Marisa Stankiwiecz would keep the offense rolling with a solo shot in the sixth, and a sacrifice fly from Taylor Becerra in the top of the sixth would stretch the lead to 7-0 after six innings of play.
Ole Miss would respond with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wouldn't be enough as Macha would slam the door shut and move Arizona State into day three of the regional.
The Sun Devils will be back in action tomorrow to face the winner of game five of the Tempe Regional. With Arizona State's win over Ole Miss every other team in the field has one loss and will battle for a spot in the Tempe Regional Finale. First pitch in that game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on the ESPN networks. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2018 Postseason by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.
"I'm very proud of their effort today," head coach Trisha Ford said. "Yesterday I said we had to hit harder and we hit harder today. Great, great at bats in the box every inning. We're doing some damage. I thought we did a tremendous job coming out. I thought Macha threw lights out. She did just a phenomenal job, her changeup was working. It was money. We executed our game."
Senior Breanna Macha got the start in the circle for the Sun Devils, throwing a complete seven innings in her 18th- start in 2018. The right-hander struck out eight, en route to her 15th- win of the season, and 53rd career victory at ASU.
"These past couple weeks we've really worked on the changeup," Macha said of her outing. "Just getting it feeling good again. Talking with coach, we had a great week of preparation and I think that it goes to show that when we put in the work we can go out and play our game."
The Sun Devil offense jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a ground-out RBI from Jade Gortarez that brought Macha back to the circle working with a narrow lead.
Arizona State would add another run in a wild third inning. Following a lead-off single by Skylar McCarty, the Rebels would induce a fly-out and give up a walk to bring Morgan Howe to the plate with two on and just one away in the inning. The center fielder would lace an infield single that would bring in McCarty from second making it a 2-0 ASU advantage heading to the fourth.
With a narrow 2-0 lead in hand, ASU looked to separate in the middle innings. K. Hackbarth would do her part, launching a three-run shot to left to put the Sun Devils up, 5-0.
Senior Marisa Stankiwiecz would keep the offense rolling with a solo shot in the sixth, and a sacrifice fly from Taylor Becerra in the top of the sixth would stretch the lead to 7-0 after six innings of play.
Ole Miss would respond with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh, but it wouldn't be enough as Macha would slam the door shut and move Arizona State into day three of the regional.
The Sun Devils will be back in action tomorrow to face the winner of game five of the Tempe Regional. With Arizona State's win over Ole Miss every other team in the field has one loss and will battle for a spot in the Tempe Regional Finale. First pitch in that game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on the ESPN networks. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2018 Postseason by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.