TEMPE, Ariz.- The Arizona State softball team (30-18, 10-11) defeated the California Golden Bears, 10-6, on senior day at Farrington Stadium Sunday afternoon.
"It's a big win for us," head coach Trisha Ford said. "I think looking at our season and Cal's, that team is good enough and they haven't gotten some wins, but they are a good team. They have two pitchers that are good so I thought we did a good job today controlling our emotions and coming out and having three good innings and then we fell asleep for a little bit but we battled back and DeNae had a good day, but I'm really proud of her."
In the circle, ASU was treated to another hot start by redshirt junior Cielo Meza who powered the Sun Devils through the first five innings, before handing the game over to Samantha Mejia who closed things out in relief.
"For three innings she was cruising," Ford said of Meza's outing. "I thought she did a great job. I think her and I would tell you that she could close off a little sooner, but she did a tremendous job for three innings. She was pretty electric, so it's just continuing to get that fourth inning of electric and battling through it more. I think she did a great job making some big pitches. She's a strikeout pitcher and she got some big ones when she needed to."
Meza retired the first three batters of the game painlessly, which included a diving catch in centerfield from senior Morgan Howe.
Looking for revenge after dropping game two of the series on Saturday, ASU would come out swinging in the bottom of the first as Howe, and junior Kindra Hackbarth, both reached base via a single before sophomore DeNae Chatman drilled a three-run home run over the right-center field fence.
Junior Jade Gortarez also lined a single during the home half for the Sun Devils, but she would be stranded on base as the Sun Devils ended the frame with a 3-0 lead.
Hitting her stride in the circle, Meza set down the Golden Bears in order for the second consecutive inning, sending Arizona State to the plate with an opportunity to break the game open.
After a walk to sophomore Kianna Kennedy and Howe's second single of the contest, K. Hackbarth chopped a two-RBI single through the middle of the Cal defense to extend ASU's lead to 5-0.
In the top of the third, the Golden Bears broke into the hit column with two straight singles, but Meza would escape the jam and keep Cal off the board through three innings of play.
The Sun Devils followed by loading the bases to begin the bottom of the third, scoring on a sacrifice fly from Kennedy that gave ASU a 6-0 advantage.
Playing in her final home game at Farrington Stadium, Howe scorched a line-drive RBI single into left field to push the score to 7-0.
Facing her first troubles in the top of the fourth, Meza limited the damage from the Golden Bears after a two-run home run trimmed the Sun Devil lead to five.
Unfortunately, ASU's offense would be turned away for the first time in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Despite Cal loading the bases, Meza escaped with just one run allowed to keep the Sun Devils out in front, 7-3, moving into the bottom of the fifth. However, Arizona State could not seem to find any traction with the bats as they were blanked for the second straight inning in the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, junior Samantha Mejia came in relief after Meza would allow two more Golden Bears to cross the plate. However, the RS junior left the circle still in position to notch her fifth win of the season.
Making her 29th- appearance of the year, Mejia held a 7-5 Sun Devil lead and sent ASU back into the dugout looking for insurance in the bottom half of the sixth.
Senior Skylar McCarty kicked off the inning in style with a single in her final regular season at-bat in Tempe before K. Hackbarth lined an RBI double to push the Sun Devil lead to three.
Joining the party, Chatman deposited her second home run of the game over the left-center field fence, marking the 79th overall home run of the year for the power hitting ASU squad.
The Golden Bears would make the top of the seventh interesting by pushing across one more run, but Mejia ultimately closed the door as ASU wrapped up the series win by a final score of 10-6.
With the victory, ASU has now reached the 30-win mark for the last 24th- consecutive season. The win also closed out the regular-season home playing careers of three incredible Sun Devils, Morgan Howe, Taylor Becerra and Skylar McCarty.
"I don't even know if I could even put into words what those seniors mean to me," Ford added when asked about the 2019 senior class. "I think on all different levels, Taylor Becerra and Skylar McCarty helped with this transition to ASU. There has been a lot that has gone on and they have done a great job staying true to their commitment to ASU. I think they have been tremendous Sun Devils and I couldn't be more proud of who they are. I know they are leaving this program as better people. I think they are very strong and that's one of our goals when you come into this program. They are all stronger and more independent minded women and for sure those two you can talk a lot about. Morgan took a different path. I have known Mo for a lot more years, I recruited her, she came and played for me at Fresno as a freshman. Now today, you have a kid who played for me there and then paid her own way to come here because she believed in this staff and our system here and I'm just proud of her. The person she was when she arrived at Fresno State to the person she is now is night and day. You want to leave as better people and go on to a better experience, and with all three of these players you can tell you that's been the case."
The Sun Devils will be back in action next Thursday as they will travel to Eugene for a three-game weekend series with the Oregon Ducks. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT, with Pac-12 Networks set to broadcast the 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.
"It's a big win for us," head coach Trisha Ford said. "I think looking at our season and Cal's, that team is good enough and they haven't gotten some wins, but they are a good team. They have two pitchers that are good so I thought we did a good job today controlling our emotions and coming out and having three good innings and then we fell asleep for a little bit but we battled back and DeNae had a good day, but I'm really proud of her."
In the circle, ASU was treated to another hot start by redshirt junior Cielo Meza who powered the Sun Devils through the first five innings, before handing the game over to Samantha Mejia who closed things out in relief.
"For three innings she was cruising," Ford said of Meza's outing. "I thought she did a great job. I think her and I would tell you that she could close off a little sooner, but she did a tremendous job for three innings. She was pretty electric, so it's just continuing to get that fourth inning of electric and battling through it more. I think she did a great job making some big pitches. She's a strikeout pitcher and she got some big ones when she needed to."
Meza retired the first three batters of the game painlessly, which included a diving catch in centerfield from senior Morgan Howe.
Looking for revenge after dropping game two of the series on Saturday, ASU would come out swinging in the bottom of the first as Howe, and junior Kindra Hackbarth, both reached base via a single before sophomore DeNae Chatman drilled a three-run home run over the right-center field fence.
Junior Jade Gortarez also lined a single during the home half for the Sun Devils, but she would be stranded on base as the Sun Devils ended the frame with a 3-0 lead.
Hitting her stride in the circle, Meza set down the Golden Bears in order for the second consecutive inning, sending Arizona State to the plate with an opportunity to break the game open.
After a walk to sophomore Kianna Kennedy and Howe's second single of the contest, K. Hackbarth chopped a two-RBI single through the middle of the Cal defense to extend ASU's lead to 5-0.
In the top of the third, the Golden Bears broke into the hit column with two straight singles, but Meza would escape the jam and keep Cal off the board through three innings of play.
The Sun Devils followed by loading the bases to begin the bottom of the third, scoring on a sacrifice fly from Kennedy that gave ASU a 6-0 advantage.
Playing in her final home game at Farrington Stadium, Howe scorched a line-drive RBI single into left field to push the score to 7-0.
Facing her first troubles in the top of the fourth, Meza limited the damage from the Golden Bears after a two-run home run trimmed the Sun Devil lead to five.
Unfortunately, ASU's offense would be turned away for the first time in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Despite Cal loading the bases, Meza escaped with just one run allowed to keep the Sun Devils out in front, 7-3, moving into the bottom of the fifth. However, Arizona State could not seem to find any traction with the bats as they were blanked for the second straight inning in the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, junior Samantha Mejia came in relief after Meza would allow two more Golden Bears to cross the plate. However, the RS junior left the circle still in position to notch her fifth win of the season.
Making her 29th- appearance of the year, Mejia held a 7-5 Sun Devil lead and sent ASU back into the dugout looking for insurance in the bottom half of the sixth.
Senior Skylar McCarty kicked off the inning in style with a single in her final regular season at-bat in Tempe before K. Hackbarth lined an RBI double to push the Sun Devil lead to three.
Joining the party, Chatman deposited her second home run of the game over the left-center field fence, marking the 79th overall home run of the year for the power hitting ASU squad.
The Golden Bears would make the top of the seventh interesting by pushing across one more run, but Mejia ultimately closed the door as ASU wrapped up the series win by a final score of 10-6.
With the victory, ASU has now reached the 30-win mark for the last 24th- consecutive season. The win also closed out the regular-season home playing careers of three incredible Sun Devils, Morgan Howe, Taylor Becerra and Skylar McCarty.
"I don't even know if I could even put into words what those seniors mean to me," Ford added when asked about the 2019 senior class. "I think on all different levels, Taylor Becerra and Skylar McCarty helped with this transition to ASU. There has been a lot that has gone on and they have done a great job staying true to their commitment to ASU. I think they have been tremendous Sun Devils and I couldn't be more proud of who they are. I know they are leaving this program as better people. I think they are very strong and that's one of our goals when you come into this program. They are all stronger and more independent minded women and for sure those two you can talk a lot about. Morgan took a different path. I have known Mo for a lot more years, I recruited her, she came and played for me at Fresno as a freshman. Now today, you have a kid who played for me there and then paid her own way to come here because she believed in this staff and our system here and I'm just proud of her. The person she was when she arrived at Fresno State to the person she is now is night and day. You want to leave as better people and go on to a better experience, and with all three of these players you can tell you that's been the case."
The Sun Devils will be back in action next Thursday as they will travel to Eugene for a three-game weekend series with the Oregon Ducks. First pitch on Thursday is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT, with Pac-12 Networks set to broadcast the 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.