Palo Alto, Calif. -- The Arizona State Softball team improved to 27-17, including a 7-10 mark in conference play, with a 7-4 victory over the Stanford Cardinal Saturday afternoon at Smith Family Stadium.
The Sun Devils opened the scoring in game two when senior outfielder Morgan Howe laced an RBI-double to the wall in center that brought in Skylar McCarty to put ASU up 1-0 midway through the first inning.
The lead would be short lived, however, as the Cardinal would answer back with a four run bottom of the first to bring the Sun Devils back to the plate for the top of the second, trailing, 4-1.
ASU did not wait long to respond as Howe connected on her second double of the afternoon to cut the lead to 4-3 heading to the home half of the inning.
After holding the Cardinal off the board in the bottom of the second, ASU got back to work in the top of the third. Following a DeNae Chatman one out walk, Kiara Kennedy and Taylor Becerra hit back-to-back singles to load the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, that would be all for the Sun Devils as the Cardinal would hold on to protect their narrow one-run lead.
The Cardinal looked to put pressure on in the bottom of the frame, blasting a one out double, but the threat would be cut down on a fielder's choice just one batter later. From there, Abby Andersen would shut things down with a groundout to first base.
The Sun Devils would finally crack the scoreboard in the top of the fourth as Howe gave one a ride over the wall in center to make it a 4-4 game with just one away.
Following the homer from Howe, both Jade Gortarez and Maddi Hackbarth shot singles through the right side, bringing Chatman to the plate with a pair of runners on base. The sophomore would come through again with a two-RBI double to right to make it a 6-4 Sun Devil lead.
With neither team able to score a run in the sixth, it was the Devils who would add on in the top of the seventh when Kindra Hackbarth sent a solo shot over the wall in left to make it a 7-4 game heading to the bottom of the inning. With the Cardinal unable to jumpstart their offense in the bottom of the seventh the Sun Devils would claim their second straight victory over the Cardinal, and secure their third Pac-12 series win of the season.
ASU will be back in action to wrap up the three-game set against the Cardinal tomorrow afternoon. First pitch in Sunday's contest is set for 1:00 p.m. PT and will be streamed on the Stanford Live Stream-2. Fans can also follow all of the action by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.
The Sun Devils opened the scoring in game two when senior outfielder Morgan Howe laced an RBI-double to the wall in center that brought in Skylar McCarty to put ASU up 1-0 midway through the first inning.
The lead would be short lived, however, as the Cardinal would answer back with a four run bottom of the first to bring the Sun Devils back to the plate for the top of the second, trailing, 4-1.
ASU did not wait long to respond as Howe connected on her second double of the afternoon to cut the lead to 4-3 heading to the home half of the inning.
After holding the Cardinal off the board in the bottom of the second, ASU got back to work in the top of the third. Following a DeNae Chatman one out walk, Kiara Kennedy and Taylor Becerra hit back-to-back singles to load the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, that would be all for the Sun Devils as the Cardinal would hold on to protect their narrow one-run lead.
The Cardinal looked to put pressure on in the bottom of the frame, blasting a one out double, but the threat would be cut down on a fielder's choice just one batter later. From there, Abby Andersen would shut things down with a groundout to first base.
The Sun Devils would finally crack the scoreboard in the top of the fourth as Howe gave one a ride over the wall in center to make it a 4-4 game with just one away.
Following the homer from Howe, both Jade Gortarez and Maddi Hackbarth shot singles through the right side, bringing Chatman to the plate with a pair of runners on base. The sophomore would come through again with a two-RBI double to right to make it a 6-4 Sun Devil lead.
With neither team able to score a run in the sixth, it was the Devils who would add on in the top of the seventh when Kindra Hackbarth sent a solo shot over the wall in left to make it a 7-4 game heading to the bottom of the inning. With the Cardinal unable to jumpstart their offense in the bottom of the seventh the Sun Devils would claim their second straight victory over the Cardinal, and secure their third Pac-12 series win of the season.
ASU will be back in action to wrap up the three-game set against the Cardinal tomorrow afternoon. First pitch in Sunday's contest is set for 1:00 p.m. PT and will be streamed on the Stanford Live Stream-2. Fans can also follow all of the action by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.