TEMPE – Sun Devil softball opened its three-game series with Utah with a 9-3 loss on Friday night at Farrington Stadium. The game was the first at home for Arizona State (18-19, 2-11 Pac-12) in nearly a month.
Alesia Denby was one of three Sun Devils to post multiple hits in the game, with a double in the third and a solo home run in the fifth. Kaya Lissy had a pair of hits and two RBIs, while Kelsey Hall also recorded two hits. Audrey Le Clair reached base three times with a single and two walks.
ASU kicked off the game with a strong start in the opening inning, led by a scoreless frame from Deborah Jones that included her first strikeout of the night. Hall ignited the offense for the Sun Devils with a double off the right-center wall and taking third on an error. Lissy hit a ball to right field, bringing Hall home for the 1-0 lead.
The third inning saw the Sun Devils put runners on second and third with no outs behind a double from Denby and a walk to LeClair. Unfortunately, no runs came from the situation and the game remained 1-0 into the fourth.
Utah (23-17, 5-11 Pac-12) went ahead in the top of the fourth inning when Aliya Belarde hit a grand slam to cap a two-out rally. The Utes added three more runs in the fifth inning before Denby homered to start the ASU fifth to make the Utah advantage 7-2 after five. The deficit reached 9-2 with two unearned Utah runs in the seventh inning.
ASU scored its final run on a single from Lissy in the bottom of the seventh. After ruling the right fielder made the catch, replay determined the ball was trapped, which allowed the run to score while also calling the second baserunner out during the completion of the play.
The two teams will play game two of the series on Saturday at 5 p.m.
NOTABLES
Alesia Denby was one of three Sun Devils to post multiple hits in the game, with a double in the third and a solo home run in the fifth. Kaya Lissy had a pair of hits and two RBIs, while Kelsey Hall also recorded two hits. Audrey Le Clair reached base three times with a single and two walks.
ASU kicked off the game with a strong start in the opening inning, led by a scoreless frame from Deborah Jones that included her first strikeout of the night. Hall ignited the offense for the Sun Devils with a double off the right-center wall and taking third on an error. Lissy hit a ball to right field, bringing Hall home for the 1-0 lead.
The third inning saw the Sun Devils put runners on second and third with no outs behind a double from Denby and a walk to LeClair. Unfortunately, no runs came from the situation and the game remained 1-0 into the fourth.
Utah (23-17, 5-11 Pac-12) went ahead in the top of the fourth inning when Aliya Belarde hit a grand slam to cap a two-out rally. The Utes added three more runs in the fifth inning before Denby homered to start the ASU fifth to make the Utah advantage 7-2 after five. The deficit reached 9-2 with two unearned Utah runs in the seventh inning.
ASU scored its final run on a single from Lissy in the bottom of the seventh. After ruling the right fielder made the catch, replay determined the ball was trapped, which allowed the run to score while also calling the second baserunner out during the completion of the play.
The two teams will play game two of the series on Saturday at 5 p.m.
NOTABLES
- Denby's home run was her team-best eighth of the season and her first since March 16 against Oregon State.
- It is also Denby's first multi-hit game since February 25, when she also had two extra-base hits.
- Lissy tallied her first multi-hit game since a three-hit performance at Washington on March 10, and it's her third multi-RBI game of the season.
- LeClair picked up a pair of stolen bases for the second time, and the 10th time a Sun Devil had two in a game.