TEMPE, Ariz. – Sun Devil softball finished up their Kajikawa Classic slate with a finish, gliding past the CSUN Matadors, 8-2, on Sunday afternoon at Farrington Softball Stadium. With the win, ASU ended the Classic with a 4-1 record.
"For me it has been great to see our team fight back from that first night," head coach Trisha Ford said. "This is going to be a long season, and it is going to look different this year. We still need to figure out what that rhythm is going to look like and I thought we did really well coming back from what was a bad loss. I thought we did a good job taking those lessons to heart and coming out for the next three games and doing a really playing our game."
Samantha Mejia was lights out for the Sun Devils in the circle, throwing her first complete game in a Sun Devil uniform. The junior tossed seven innings against CSUN, striking out four batters while allowing just two runs.
"Sam did a great job hitting spot and changing speeds," Ford said of her pitcher's performance. "She did a great job doing what we were calling and letting her defense work. She was tremendous. She showed a lot of poise out there. We wanted to see if we could work her through seven innings and she had to labor a little bit there in the sixth and seventh, but that is good for her. She did a really great job of getting us ground ball outs when we needed them and I am just really proud of her."
Mejia was backed up on the other side by the offense, who put up eight runs on the Matador pitching staff. After a quiet first inning, the Sun Devils got on the board first in the second frame through an RBI-single by Skylar McCarty.
ASU came back again in the home half of the fourth for two more runs, as Taylor Becerra set the table with a leadoff single. Kindra Hackbarth followed with a bunt single, with Becerra's speed allowing her to go first-to-third on the play. McCarty against stepped up with runners on the corners and none out to execute a sacrifice bunt, scoring Becerra from third. Howe cashed K. Hackbarth in with a double to left center to give the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead.
The Matadors got on the board in their half of the fifth, but Mejia limited the damage to just two runs in that single frame. CSUN knocked a one-out, two-RBI double, but Mejia locked in to induce a ground out and foul out to end the threat. The Matadors did not pass second base from that point on.
The Sun Devils exploded for a five-run sixth inning on the backs of McCarty, Jade Gortarez and Yannira Acuna. McCarty knocked in her third hit of the afternoon to finish the game 3-for-3 with an RBI. The senior launched a two-run home run to put ASU up 5-1, and Gortarez followed a few batters later with an RBI single up the middle.
Acuna added a two-out, two-RBI double to hammer the final nail in the coffin as Mejia was again lights out in the top of the seventh. She worked around a leadoff hit-by-pitch to set three-straight batters down, securing the 8-2 Sun Devil victory.
With the conclusion of today's game, ASU will officially close out the 2019 Kajikawa Classic. In total, 12 teams played 30 games on four fields, with 12 total games being televised by the Pac-12 Network. With the success of the last two seasons, the program hopes the tournament will continue to cement itself as one of the premier softball tournaments in the country.
"This was just tremendous," Ford said of the softball-filled weekend. "Last season was the first year of the Pac-12 being really involved and I think they see the product that is getting put out on the field. Softball is a big thing and people really enjoy it. It is a quick game with a lot of action and we are playing at a really high level. For me, the Pac-12 is just doing it right. Ken Landphere has just worked his tail off for us to continue to grow this. Obviously that leadership comes directly from Ray Anderson and you can see that with some of the new features at our field. All of that is a direct result of that continued support. I think we really have a special thing going."
ASU is back in action this weekend for the 2019 Littlewood Classic. The Sun Devils kick off the weekend Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. against Illinois State, before facing off with Florida Friday evening. The weekend will continue with games against Central Michigan on Saturday, before closing out the home-stand with a Sunday doubleheader against Utah State and San Diego, Sunday Feb. 17.
"For me it has been great to see our team fight back from that first night," head coach Trisha Ford said. "This is going to be a long season, and it is going to look different this year. We still need to figure out what that rhythm is going to look like and I thought we did really well coming back from what was a bad loss. I thought we did a good job taking those lessons to heart and coming out for the next three games and doing a really playing our game."
Samantha Mejia was lights out for the Sun Devils in the circle, throwing her first complete game in a Sun Devil uniform. The junior tossed seven innings against CSUN, striking out four batters while allowing just two runs.
"Sam did a great job hitting spot and changing speeds," Ford said of her pitcher's performance. "She did a great job doing what we were calling and letting her defense work. She was tremendous. She showed a lot of poise out there. We wanted to see if we could work her through seven innings and she had to labor a little bit there in the sixth and seventh, but that is good for her. She did a really great job of getting us ground ball outs when we needed them and I am just really proud of her."
Mejia was backed up on the other side by the offense, who put up eight runs on the Matador pitching staff. After a quiet first inning, the Sun Devils got on the board first in the second frame through an RBI-single by Skylar McCarty.
ASU came back again in the home half of the fourth for two more runs, as Taylor Becerra set the table with a leadoff single. Kindra Hackbarth followed with a bunt single, with Becerra's speed allowing her to go first-to-third on the play. McCarty against stepped up with runners on the corners and none out to execute a sacrifice bunt, scoring Becerra from third. Howe cashed K. Hackbarth in with a double to left center to give the Sun Devils a 3-0 lead.
The Matadors got on the board in their half of the fifth, but Mejia limited the damage to just two runs in that single frame. CSUN knocked a one-out, two-RBI double, but Mejia locked in to induce a ground out and foul out to end the threat. The Matadors did not pass second base from that point on.
The Sun Devils exploded for a five-run sixth inning on the backs of McCarty, Jade Gortarez and Yannira Acuna. McCarty knocked in her third hit of the afternoon to finish the game 3-for-3 with an RBI. The senior launched a two-run home run to put ASU up 5-1, and Gortarez followed a few batters later with an RBI single up the middle.
Acuna added a two-out, two-RBI double to hammer the final nail in the coffin as Mejia was again lights out in the top of the seventh. She worked around a leadoff hit-by-pitch to set three-straight batters down, securing the 8-2 Sun Devil victory.
With the conclusion of today's game, ASU will officially close out the 2019 Kajikawa Classic. In total, 12 teams played 30 games on four fields, with 12 total games being televised by the Pac-12 Network. With the success of the last two seasons, the program hopes the tournament will continue to cement itself as one of the premier softball tournaments in the country.
"This was just tremendous," Ford said of the softball-filled weekend. "Last season was the first year of the Pac-12 being really involved and I think they see the product that is getting put out on the field. Softball is a big thing and people really enjoy it. It is a quick game with a lot of action and we are playing at a really high level. For me, the Pac-12 is just doing it right. Ken Landphere has just worked his tail off for us to continue to grow this. Obviously that leadership comes directly from Ray Anderson and you can see that with some of the new features at our field. All of that is a direct result of that continued support. I think we really have a special thing going."
ASU is back in action this weekend for the 2019 Littlewood Classic. The Sun Devils kick off the weekend Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. against Illinois State, before facing off with Florida Friday evening. The weekend will continue with games against Central Michigan on Saturday, before closing out the home-stand with a Sunday doubleheader against Utah State and San Diego, Sunday Feb. 17.