Cathedral City, Calif. -- The 13th-ranked Arizona State softball team (10-4) picked up a pair of wins Friday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, topping Nebraska, 6-5, before downing Texas A&M, 5-4.
GAME ONE: ASU 6, Nebraska 5
The Sun Devils got off to a fast start in game one, plating the game's first run in the bottom of the first inning when senior outfielder Skylar McCarty laced a 2-1 pitch into left field, scoring Kindra Hackbarth from first.
With neither team able to plate a run in the second, the Cornhuskers answered back in the top of the third with a RBI single that evened the score at 1-1 heading to the fourth.
Nebraska would add two more runs in the top of the fourth, capitalizing on an Arizona State error, and pushing the score to 5-1 as the game headed to the fifth.
Unfortunately the Sun Devils would fail to stop the Cornhusker offense in the fifth, as the visitors scratched in two more runs on three hits, stretching their lead to 5-1, heading to the bottom of the frame.
With just six outs left in the game, the Sun Devil bats finally came to life in the bottom of the fifth. sophomore second baseman following three-straight walks, senior outfielder Morgan Howe crushed a ball over the wall in center field to tie the game at 5-5.
Freshman pitcher Mikayla Santa Cruz, who entered the game in the fourth, did a great job shutting down the Nebraska offense and bringing the Sun Devils back to the plate with the game still tied at 5.
A two-hit sixth would be all it would take for the Sun Devils to lock in the win, the first for the Sun Devils at the 2019 Mary Nutter Classic, as McCarty came through again with her second RBI of the game.
GAME 2: ASU 5, TAMU 4
Following the come-back victory, the Sun Devils hit the field again for an early evening meeting with Texas A&M.
Having not thrown yet this weekend, head coach Trisha Ford called on freshman pitcher Abby Andersen to make the start in the circle for the Sun Devils against the Aggies. For Andersen, the start represented her second start against an SEC team this season, after making her debut against Florida a week ago.
The freshman did a phenomenal job keeping her composure in what would turn into a very close game, allowing just two earned runs on nine hits in her first collegiate win.
Much like game one, it was the Sun Devils who scored the game's first runs, plating three in the top of the top of the second. Maddi Hackbarth got things going with a leadoff home run, to be followed just a few batters later with a Bella Loomis two-run shot that put ASU up 3-0.
The Aggies countered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single, but a strikeout and a groundout would stall the TAMU offense, and send the game to the third with the Devils out front, 3-1.
Texas A&M would get rolling again just an inning later, this time tying things up with a two-run, three-hit showing in the home-half of the third.
The Sun Devils wasted no time responding. Following three-straight walks, K. Hackbarth showed patience at the plate in taking a walk of her own, before McCarty lifted a sacrifice-fly to plate a second run in the frame.
TAMU countered in the fifth with an RBI-single to make it a one-score contest, but that would be all the Aggie offense could muster against Andersen and the ASU defense, who would leave the field with a 5-4 win.
The Sun Devils will be back in action tomorrow evening with a 9 p.m. MST meeting against Bethune-Cookman. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2019 season by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.
GAME ONE: ASU 6, Nebraska 5
The Sun Devils got off to a fast start in game one, plating the game's first run in the bottom of the first inning when senior outfielder Skylar McCarty laced a 2-1 pitch into left field, scoring Kindra Hackbarth from first.
With neither team able to plate a run in the second, the Cornhuskers answered back in the top of the third with a RBI single that evened the score at 1-1 heading to the fourth.
Nebraska would add two more runs in the top of the fourth, capitalizing on an Arizona State error, and pushing the score to 5-1 as the game headed to the fifth.
Unfortunately the Sun Devils would fail to stop the Cornhusker offense in the fifth, as the visitors scratched in two more runs on three hits, stretching their lead to 5-1, heading to the bottom of the frame.
With just six outs left in the game, the Sun Devil bats finally came to life in the bottom of the fifth. sophomore second baseman following three-straight walks, senior outfielder Morgan Howe crushed a ball over the wall in center field to tie the game at 5-5.
Freshman pitcher Mikayla Santa Cruz, who entered the game in the fourth, did a great job shutting down the Nebraska offense and bringing the Sun Devils back to the plate with the game still tied at 5.
A two-hit sixth would be all it would take for the Sun Devils to lock in the win, the first for the Sun Devils at the 2019 Mary Nutter Classic, as McCarty came through again with her second RBI of the game.
GAME 2: ASU 5, TAMU 4
Following the come-back victory, the Sun Devils hit the field again for an early evening meeting with Texas A&M.
Having not thrown yet this weekend, head coach Trisha Ford called on freshman pitcher Abby Andersen to make the start in the circle for the Sun Devils against the Aggies. For Andersen, the start represented her second start against an SEC team this season, after making her debut against Florida a week ago.
The freshman did a phenomenal job keeping her composure in what would turn into a very close game, allowing just two earned runs on nine hits in her first collegiate win.
Much like game one, it was the Sun Devils who scored the game's first runs, plating three in the top of the top of the second. Maddi Hackbarth got things going with a leadoff home run, to be followed just a few batters later with a Bella Loomis two-run shot that put ASU up 3-0.
The Aggies countered in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single, but a strikeout and a groundout would stall the TAMU offense, and send the game to the third with the Devils out front, 3-1.
Texas A&M would get rolling again just an inning later, this time tying things up with a two-run, three-hit showing in the home-half of the third.
The Sun Devils wasted no time responding. Following three-straight walks, K. Hackbarth showed patience at the plate in taking a walk of her own, before McCarty lifted a sacrifice-fly to plate a second run in the frame.
TAMU countered in the fifth with an RBI-single to make it a one-score contest, but that would be all the Aggie offense could muster against Andersen and the ASU defense, who would leave the field with a 5-4 win.
The Sun Devils will be back in action tomorrow evening with a 9 p.m. MST meeting against Bethune-Cookman. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2019 season by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.