TEMPE, Ariz.- The No. 21 Arizona State softball team (25-14, 5-7) fell to No. 1 UCLA, 16-5, in the final game of a three-game series Sunday afternoon at Farrington Stadium.
"There were some good things to take away from this game," head coach Trisha Ford said of the series finale. "Hopefully the worst is out of our system now. We are going to tidy up some things on the mound, but that is a really good hitting team. They are scoring a lot of runs on a lot of pitchers. We have just got to hit reset and go back to work."
UCLA jumped out to an early 3-0 lead off three first inning hits, before junior pitcher Samantha Mejia was able to get the final out of the frame with a line-out to shortstop.
Following a quiet bottom of the first for ASU, UCLA would push across eight more runs in the top of the second to extend their lead to 11-0. Unfortunately, the Sun Devils would be unable to string together any at-bats, and were turned away scoreless again in the home-half of the second.
After tacking on five more runs in the third, the Bruins led 16-0. In the home half of the inning, sophomore Bella Loomis would notch the Sun Devils first hit of the afternoon on a line-drive single into centerfield.
Attempting to chip away at the lead, junior Alli Tatnall followed with a two-run home run over the wall in left center, bringing across the first two runs of the afternoon for ASU.
Senior Taylor Becerra would also reach base on an infield single before Kindra Hackbarth blasted another Sun Devil home run, closing the gap on the Bruins and making the score 16-4 after three innings.
Despite struggling early in the game, ASU turned to Mikayla Santa Cruz to stop the bleeding. The freshman would deliver for ASU, blanking UCLA in the top of the fourth.
Looking to keep the bats going from the previous inning, the Sun Devil offense could not seem to muster any momentum in the bottom half of the fourth.
In the circle, however, Santa Cruz continued to shut down the UCLA lineup by retiring the side in the top of the fifth. The defensive effort sent the Sun Devils back to the plate looking to spark a rally.
Becerra would get things going with a triple over the center fielder's head, and would later be brought in by a line-drive from K. Hackbarth to cut UCLA's lead to 16-5. Ultimately, the would-be comeback would come up short, and lock in the third straight win for the top-ranked Bruins.
ASU will be back in action next Friday as they will travel to Seattle for a three-game weekend series with No. 6 Washington. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT, with Pac-12 Networks set to broadcast the top-25 matchup. Fans can follow all of the action from the series as well as the remainder of the 2019 season by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.
"There were some good things to take away from this game," head coach Trisha Ford said of the series finale. "Hopefully the worst is out of our system now. We are going to tidy up some things on the mound, but that is a really good hitting team. They are scoring a lot of runs on a lot of pitchers. We have just got to hit reset and go back to work."
UCLA jumped out to an early 3-0 lead off three first inning hits, before junior pitcher Samantha Mejia was able to get the final out of the frame with a line-out to shortstop.
Following a quiet bottom of the first for ASU, UCLA would push across eight more runs in the top of the second to extend their lead to 11-0. Unfortunately, the Sun Devils would be unable to string together any at-bats, and were turned away scoreless again in the home-half of the second.
After tacking on five more runs in the third, the Bruins led 16-0. In the home half of the inning, sophomore Bella Loomis would notch the Sun Devils first hit of the afternoon on a line-drive single into centerfield.
Attempting to chip away at the lead, junior Alli Tatnall followed with a two-run home run over the wall in left center, bringing across the first two runs of the afternoon for ASU.
Senior Taylor Becerra would also reach base on an infield single before Kindra Hackbarth blasted another Sun Devil home run, closing the gap on the Bruins and making the score 16-4 after three innings.
Despite struggling early in the game, ASU turned to Mikayla Santa Cruz to stop the bleeding. The freshman would deliver for ASU, blanking UCLA in the top of the fourth.
Looking to keep the bats going from the previous inning, the Sun Devil offense could not seem to muster any momentum in the bottom half of the fourth.
In the circle, however, Santa Cruz continued to shut down the UCLA lineup by retiring the side in the top of the fifth. The defensive effort sent the Sun Devils back to the plate looking to spark a rally.
Becerra would get things going with a triple over the center fielder's head, and would later be brought in by a line-drive from K. Hackbarth to cut UCLA's lead to 16-5. Ultimately, the would-be comeback would come up short, and lock in the third straight win for the top-ranked Bruins.
ASU will be back in action next Friday as they will travel to Seattle for a three-game weekend series with No. 6 Washington. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT, with Pac-12 Networks set to broadcast the top-25 matchup. Fans can follow all of the action from the series as well as the remainder of the 2019 season by following @ASUSoftball on Twitter.