TEMPE, Ariz. -- The 17th- ranked Sun Devil softball team picked up their second-straight shutout victory, topping Lehigh 14-0 Tuesday evening at Farrington Stadium.
Freshman Abby Andersen pitched a complete game, her second in the past six days for Arizona State, finishing just one hit shy of a perfect game. The Chandler, Ariz., native needed just 55 total pitches to close out the Sun Devil's 20th- win of the season.
"Abby pitched a great game tonight," head coach Trisha Ford said of the freshman's outing. "Her pitches were doing what they were supposed to do. She has put in some good outings through the past weekend, and then today. She was efficient tonight. Her game tonight was just really impressive."
Following a very quick three-up three-down top of the first, Kindra Hackbarth led off the bottom of the inning with a single up the middle. That would be the only Sun Devil hit in the frame as she was followed by, Skylar McCarty who reached safely on an error, and Three consecutive ASU walks that brought in the first two runs of the game.
Kiara Kennedy then reached on a three-base error that scored two more, puting ASU up 4-0 heading to the top of the second.
After a perfect second inning by Andersen, Jade Gortarez lifted a fly ball to deep center allowing K. Hackbarth to score, making it a 5-0 Sun Devil lead.
Maddi Hackbarth got her swing timed up as well, blasting a two-RBI single through the infield that made it a 7-0 lead. DeNae Chatman followed with a single of her own, but a Mountain Hawk error would be just enough to allow M. Hackbarth to score, making it an 8-0 lead for the home-side.
Working with an already sizeable lead, Bella Loomis led off the bottom of the third with a double to right, before K. Hackbarth launched her seventh home run of the season to make it 10-0, ASU.
Just two batters later, senior Morgan Howe drilled a line drive off the top of the wall in right-center. With the Mountain Hawk defense playing deep, the hard bounce would roll almost back to the infield, allowing the speedy Howe to circle the bases for an inside the park home run.
"It was exciting," Howe said of the homer. "With as little as our park feels sometimes, to know that I'm fast enough to get around the bases like that is just a cool feeling. Overall it was pretty exciting."
With the visitors held off the board again in the fourth, the Sun Devil offense would continue to produce in the bottom half. After earning a one out walk, Loomis would put runners in scoring position with a hard hit double down the left-line. With the pressure on, ASU would add two runs on a fielding error, and tack on another with an RBI Single from McCarty.
With the run-rule in hand, Andersen made her final push at perfection, but a bloop single to lead off the fifth would end the magical run for the right-hander. Three quick outs would follow, and seal the 14-0 ASU win.
"I think offensively you saw our bats come to life," Ford added. "The thing I was really proud of was their patience in the box, continuing to look for our pitches, which is obviously a huge key for us. The team did a great job of not settling and taking walks. I thought that showed some of the maturity. We had some big hits when we needed them, and it was good to see them in the box with good approaches."
The Sun Devils will be back in action this weekend, March 15-17, at Farrington Stadium against Oregon State for their first Pac-12 conference series. Friday's first pitch will be at 7:00 p.m. MST and the weekend will be broadcasted on ASU Live-Stream. Fans can follow all of the action from Friday's game, as well as the rest of the 2019 ASU softball season by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.
Freshman Abby Andersen pitched a complete game, her second in the past six days for Arizona State, finishing just one hit shy of a perfect game. The Chandler, Ariz., native needed just 55 total pitches to close out the Sun Devil's 20th- win of the season.
"Abby pitched a great game tonight," head coach Trisha Ford said of the freshman's outing. "Her pitches were doing what they were supposed to do. She has put in some good outings through the past weekend, and then today. She was efficient tonight. Her game tonight was just really impressive."
Following a very quick three-up three-down top of the first, Kindra Hackbarth led off the bottom of the inning with a single up the middle. That would be the only Sun Devil hit in the frame as she was followed by, Skylar McCarty who reached safely on an error, and Three consecutive ASU walks that brought in the first two runs of the game.
Kiara Kennedy then reached on a three-base error that scored two more, puting ASU up 4-0 heading to the top of the second.
After a perfect second inning by Andersen, Jade Gortarez lifted a fly ball to deep center allowing K. Hackbarth to score, making it a 5-0 Sun Devil lead.
Maddi Hackbarth got her swing timed up as well, blasting a two-RBI single through the infield that made it a 7-0 lead. DeNae Chatman followed with a single of her own, but a Mountain Hawk error would be just enough to allow M. Hackbarth to score, making it an 8-0 lead for the home-side.
Working with an already sizeable lead, Bella Loomis led off the bottom of the third with a double to right, before K. Hackbarth launched her seventh home run of the season to make it 10-0, ASU.
Just two batters later, senior Morgan Howe drilled a line drive off the top of the wall in right-center. With the Mountain Hawk defense playing deep, the hard bounce would roll almost back to the infield, allowing the speedy Howe to circle the bases for an inside the park home run.
"It was exciting," Howe said of the homer. "With as little as our park feels sometimes, to know that I'm fast enough to get around the bases like that is just a cool feeling. Overall it was pretty exciting."
With the visitors held off the board again in the fourth, the Sun Devil offense would continue to produce in the bottom half. After earning a one out walk, Loomis would put runners in scoring position with a hard hit double down the left-line. With the pressure on, ASU would add two runs on a fielding error, and tack on another with an RBI Single from McCarty.
With the run-rule in hand, Andersen made her final push at perfection, but a bloop single to lead off the fifth would end the magical run for the right-hander. Three quick outs would follow, and seal the 14-0 ASU win.
"I think offensively you saw our bats come to life," Ford added. "The thing I was really proud of was their patience in the box, continuing to look for our pitches, which is obviously a huge key for us. The team did a great job of not settling and taking walks. I thought that showed some of the maturity. We had some big hits when we needed them, and it was good to see them in the box with good approaches."
The Sun Devils will be back in action this weekend, March 15-17, at Farrington Stadium against Oregon State for their first Pac-12 conference series. Friday's first pitch will be at 7:00 p.m. MST and the weekend will be broadcasted on ASU Live-Stream. Fans can follow all of the action from Friday's game, as well as the rest of the 2019 ASU softball season by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.