Tempe, Ariz. – The 16th- ranked Arizona State Softball team split the opening day of the 2019 ASU invitational claiming a walk-off win over No. 21 James Madison, 6-4, before falling to No. 25 Michigan, 6-7.
"I was just super happy with our approach in the box," head coach Trisha Ford said of her team's resiliency. "I think we did a heck of a job today. We faced two All-Americans and I think that they were just outstanding, and we were outstanding in the box. I think if we pitched a little better in certain situations, and played better defense, then we would have two 'W's today. But very happy with what we did in the box today."
GAME 1: ASU 6, JMU 4
After giving up three early runs to the Dukes, the Sun Devil offense finally found its momentum in the home-half of the third inning when sophomore infielder Kiara Kennedy launched a lead-off homer to left. The home run was the first collegiate long ball of Kennedy's career, and marked the 32nd long ball of the season for ASU.
The offense would continue to produce in the inning. Kindra Hackbarth took advantage of a pitch that was just a bit inside, and would later come across to score just one batter later when Skylar McCarty laced an RBI double to left.
Trailing by just one run, the Sun Devil defense buckled down to hold the Dukes scoreless through the fourth and fifth, but the visitors would come back to life and bring in a run in the top of the six.
Following a very quiet bottom of the sixth, ASU entered the final frame trailing the 21st-rnaked Dukes, 4-2.
Freshman pitcher Abby Andersen did her part to start the inning off, holding JMU off the board in the top of the frame, giving her offense a chance to respond in the home-half.
Following a groundout, Kennedy would draw a walk, brining Bella Loomis to the plate representing the tying run.
Coming off a monster weekend in last week's Sun Devil Classic, the sophomore infielder waited for her pitch and blasted a game-tying two run shot over the wall in right.
"Bella is continuing to say the course", Ford added. "She is doing a heck of a job out there. I am just going to leave her alone and let her do her thing."
With the game tied at four-all and just one away, the Sun Devil offense came through again, this time with Morgan Howe coming up with a two-run home run to give ASU a 4-6 walk off win.
"These games were hard, but the hard is fun," Howe said of the come-back win. "This is what you live for, and what you dream of. Through the game I took a lot of pitches and then going into the last at-bat, I just said to myself 'you have to get on'. And [the walk-off home run] was obviously a cool result. We can never count ourselves out, we can score at the end of the game and we can score at the beginning of the game. We are never out of the game."
With the victory, Andersen collected her fourth win of the season, and second win over a top-25 opponent.
"I thought Abby did a good job of settling in today," Ford said of Andersen's performance. "She still has some 'freshman moments', but what I love most about her is her desire to play and compete. After the JMU game, she came up to me and said that she was ready to play again in game two. That's what you want to see, that's what you want to hear. She wants the ball, she has a tremendous composure, and she wants to compete. She has learned so much since starting at ASU, and while knowledge is power, she still needs to turn that power into action. We are working with her to talk through pitches between innings, but on the mound, she just needs to act and compete."
GAME TWO: ASU 6, Michigan 7
Just minutes after their emotional walk-off win over the Dukes, the Sun Devils found themselves in another challenging game, this time against the USA Softball National Player of the Week Meghan Beaubien and the No. 25 Wolverines.
With neither team giving an inch, the game would head to the top of the fourth with the score still reading 0-0. Following a lead-off single, the Wolverines would work around and ultimately take advantage of a wild-pitch to plate the game's first run.
With ASU unable to answer in the home-half, the Wolverines added two more runs in the fifth, this time courtesy of a pair of RBI-doubles.
Looking for an opportunity of their own, the Sun Devils finally cashed in in the bottom of the fifth, when Kennedy came in on a wild pitch, pushing the score to 3-1 heading to the sixth.
From there, the Wolverines would pile on three-runs on three-hits and a Sun Devil error, ballooning the score to 6-1 with just an inning and a half left in regulation.
The Sun Devils did not back down at all. Senior's Skylar McCarty and Morgan Howe jump started the offense with back-to-back singles, before DeNae Chatman loaded the bases with a single of her own.
With the bases loaded and just one out, junior Jade Gortarez brought in two runs on an RBI-single to make the score 6-3.
A few batters later, Loomis would come up big again, this time roping a seeing-eye single into right field that scored a pair of ASU runs and pushed the score to 6-5.
With Michigan able to strike again in the top of the seventh, ASU came back to the plate down a pair of runs for the second time in the day. Looking for a repeat of game one, the Sun Devil offense did manage to connect on yet another home run, but it would be too little too late as the Wolverine defense would record the final out on a pop-up and stifle the would-be comeback.
The Sun Devils will be back in action tomorrow evening hosting New Mexico State in a 7 p.m. game at Farrington Stadium. The matchup with the Aggies will be the first matchup between the two teams since last season's Tempe Regional. 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.
"I was just super happy with our approach in the box," head coach Trisha Ford said of her team's resiliency. "I think we did a heck of a job today. We faced two All-Americans and I think that they were just outstanding, and we were outstanding in the box. I think if we pitched a little better in certain situations, and played better defense, then we would have two 'W's today. But very happy with what we did in the box today."
GAME 1: ASU 6, JMU 4
After giving up three early runs to the Dukes, the Sun Devil offense finally found its momentum in the home-half of the third inning when sophomore infielder Kiara Kennedy launched a lead-off homer to left. The home run was the first collegiate long ball of Kennedy's career, and marked the 32nd long ball of the season for ASU.
The offense would continue to produce in the inning. Kindra Hackbarth took advantage of a pitch that was just a bit inside, and would later come across to score just one batter later when Skylar McCarty laced an RBI double to left.
Trailing by just one run, the Sun Devil defense buckled down to hold the Dukes scoreless through the fourth and fifth, but the visitors would come back to life and bring in a run in the top of the six.
Following a very quiet bottom of the sixth, ASU entered the final frame trailing the 21st-rnaked Dukes, 4-2.
Freshman pitcher Abby Andersen did her part to start the inning off, holding JMU off the board in the top of the frame, giving her offense a chance to respond in the home-half.
Following a groundout, Kennedy would draw a walk, brining Bella Loomis to the plate representing the tying run.
Coming off a monster weekend in last week's Sun Devil Classic, the sophomore infielder waited for her pitch and blasted a game-tying two run shot over the wall in right.
"Bella is continuing to say the course", Ford added. "She is doing a heck of a job out there. I am just going to leave her alone and let her do her thing."
With the game tied at four-all and just one away, the Sun Devil offense came through again, this time with Morgan Howe coming up with a two-run home run to give ASU a 4-6 walk off win.
"These games were hard, but the hard is fun," Howe said of the come-back win. "This is what you live for, and what you dream of. Through the game I took a lot of pitches and then going into the last at-bat, I just said to myself 'you have to get on'. And [the walk-off home run] was obviously a cool result. We can never count ourselves out, we can score at the end of the game and we can score at the beginning of the game. We are never out of the game."
With the victory, Andersen collected her fourth win of the season, and second win over a top-25 opponent.
"I thought Abby did a good job of settling in today," Ford said of Andersen's performance. "She still has some 'freshman moments', but what I love most about her is her desire to play and compete. After the JMU game, she came up to me and said that she was ready to play again in game two. That's what you want to see, that's what you want to hear. She wants the ball, she has a tremendous composure, and she wants to compete. She has learned so much since starting at ASU, and while knowledge is power, she still needs to turn that power into action. We are working with her to talk through pitches between innings, but on the mound, she just needs to act and compete."
GAME TWO: ASU 6, Michigan 7
Just minutes after their emotional walk-off win over the Dukes, the Sun Devils found themselves in another challenging game, this time against the USA Softball National Player of the Week Meghan Beaubien and the No. 25 Wolverines.
With neither team giving an inch, the game would head to the top of the fourth with the score still reading 0-0. Following a lead-off single, the Wolverines would work around and ultimately take advantage of a wild-pitch to plate the game's first run.
With ASU unable to answer in the home-half, the Wolverines added two more runs in the fifth, this time courtesy of a pair of RBI-doubles.
Looking for an opportunity of their own, the Sun Devils finally cashed in in the bottom of the fifth, when Kennedy came in on a wild pitch, pushing the score to 3-1 heading to the sixth.
From there, the Wolverines would pile on three-runs on three-hits and a Sun Devil error, ballooning the score to 6-1 with just an inning and a half left in regulation.
The Sun Devils did not back down at all. Senior's Skylar McCarty and Morgan Howe jump started the offense with back-to-back singles, before DeNae Chatman loaded the bases with a single of her own.
With the bases loaded and just one out, junior Jade Gortarez brought in two runs on an RBI-single to make the score 6-3.
A few batters later, Loomis would come up big again, this time roping a seeing-eye single into right field that scored a pair of ASU runs and pushed the score to 6-5.
With Michigan able to strike again in the top of the seventh, ASU came back to the plate down a pair of runs for the second time in the day. Looking for a repeat of game one, the Sun Devil offense did manage to connect on yet another home run, but it would be too little too late as the Wolverine defense would record the final out on a pop-up and stifle the would-be comeback.
The Sun Devils will be back in action tomorrow evening hosting New Mexico State in a 7 p.m. game at Farrington Stadium. The matchup with the Aggies will be the first matchup between the two teams since last season's Tempe Regional. 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.