TEMPE – Sun Devil Softball opened the Sun Devil Classic by splitting its two games at Farrington Stadium. After falling to No. 3/3 Florida 9-1 to start the day, Arizona State bounced back to down California Baptist 8-1 in the nightcap.
Meika Lauppe earned the win against CBU by throwing four shutout innings. She allowed a pair of hits in the first inning and then retired the final 10 batters she faced while striking out two.
Kelsey Hall gave the Sun Devils the lead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning. Her second homer of the season followed a double from Tiare Ho-Ching.
The game was 2-1 when ASU came to the plate in the sixth when they scored six runs to blow the game open. The Sun Devils had eight consecutive players record a single, and the ninth was hit by a pitch to plate all the runs. They also stole five bases in the frame.
Hall and Ho-Ching each recorded two hits and two RBIs in the game. AJ Murphy also had two hits.
Kenzie Brown picked up her second save of the season, pitching the final three innings.
The day's first game saw the Sun Devils come up short against the Gators. Trailing 5-0 in the sixth, Ashleigh Mejia doubled home Yannixa Acuña to get ASU on the board. Florida countered with four runs in the seventh to halt any thoughts of a Sun Devil rally.
The Sun Devils ended the game 2-for-11 with runners on base and 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Takyla Davis also doubled in the game as ASU totaled six hits as a team. Cambree Creager tallied a pair of strikeouts in the circle during her four innings of work.
Notable
Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On what it means for the team to bounce back against CBU:
"They're young. There's a lot of teaching. It was interesting that they understood what got away from them in the first game. Now it's time to put all the pieces together and start to make better decisions."
On the small ball performance:
"It's a big part of what we do. We have a skilled ball club, but we're not the most physical ball club on the planet. We won't hit 80 home runs this year, so we have to figure out other ways to push runs across. We're going to continue to put pressure on the defense and use our wits."
Sophomore Meika Lauppe
On her efficiency during game two:
"I would say I completely owe my team. That wasn't a huge strikeout four innings for me, but my teammates had my back on any play that needed to be made."
On getting back on the field and having a positive difference in game two
"It's huge. We didn't have to dwell on a loss. We were able to come back out and pick each other up."
Graduate Kelsey Hall
On offensive performance in game two after the poor showing against Florida:
"It was a big team win. We capitalized at the end of the game. It was nice to be able to step up for my team. I'm personally trying to vaule quality at-bats and quality in my process."
On how the team can learn from the loss against Florida:
"They're a great program. That being said, we competed. We were not physically outmatched. We had multiple times, especially in the beginning of the game where we could have punched harder, but we didn't capitalize on it. It's recognizing how close we were to such an amazing program and take what we need to learn to step up next time."
Up Next
Play at the Sun Devil Classic continues on Saturday with two games at Farrington Stadium. ASU will face Portland State at 4 p.m. following the 1:15 p.m. game between Iowa State and Portland State.
Meika Lauppe earned the win against CBU by throwing four shutout innings. She allowed a pair of hits in the first inning and then retired the final 10 batters she faced while striking out two.
Kelsey Hall gave the Sun Devils the lead with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning. Her second homer of the season followed a double from Tiare Ho-Ching.
The game was 2-1 when ASU came to the plate in the sixth when they scored six runs to blow the game open. The Sun Devils had eight consecutive players record a single, and the ninth was hit by a pitch to plate all the runs. They also stole five bases in the frame.
Hall and Ho-Ching each recorded two hits and two RBIs in the game. AJ Murphy also had two hits.
Kenzie Brown picked up her second save of the season, pitching the final three innings.
The day's first game saw the Sun Devils come up short against the Gators. Trailing 5-0 in the sixth, Ashleigh Mejia doubled home Yannixa Acuña to get ASU on the board. Florida countered with four runs in the seventh to halt any thoughts of a Sun Devil rally.
The Sun Devils ended the game 2-for-11 with runners on base and 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
Takyla Davis also doubled in the game as ASU totaled six hits as a team. Cambree Creager tallied a pair of strikeouts in the circle during her four innings of work.
Notable
- Sydney Saenz picked up her first career hit and RBI during the sixth inning against CBU.
- With a hit in both games, Nehanda Lewis extended her current hitting streak to five straight games.
- ASU had seven stolen bases against CBU after entering the game with eight on the season.
- The seven steals are the most by an ASU team since they stole nine at Utah on April 8, 2023.
- The Sun Devils had a double in both games on Friday after not having a double in the four games leading into the day.
- Game two also saw ASU record a season-high tying 12 hits in a game for the third time this season.
- CBU joined California and Weber State as Sun Devil opponents not to record an extra-base hit in a game.
Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On what it means for the team to bounce back against CBU:
"They're young. There's a lot of teaching. It was interesting that they understood what got away from them in the first game. Now it's time to put all the pieces together and start to make better decisions."
On the small ball performance:
"It's a big part of what we do. We have a skilled ball club, but we're not the most physical ball club on the planet. We won't hit 80 home runs this year, so we have to figure out other ways to push runs across. We're going to continue to put pressure on the defense and use our wits."
Sophomore Meika Lauppe
On her efficiency during game two:
"I would say I completely owe my team. That wasn't a huge strikeout four innings for me, but my teammates had my back on any play that needed to be made."
On getting back on the field and having a positive difference in game two
"It's huge. We didn't have to dwell on a loss. We were able to come back out and pick each other up."
Graduate Kelsey Hall
On offensive performance in game two after the poor showing against Florida:
"It was a big team win. We capitalized at the end of the game. It was nice to be able to step up for my team. I'm personally trying to vaule quality at-bats and quality in my process."
On how the team can learn from the loss against Florida:
"They're a great program. That being said, we competed. We were not physically outmatched. We had multiple times, especially in the beginning of the game where we could have punched harder, but we didn't capitalize on it. It's recognizing how close we were to such an amazing program and take what we need to learn to step up next time."
Up Next
Play at the Sun Devil Classic continues on Saturday with two games at Farrington Stadium. ASU will face Portland State at 4 p.m. following the 1:15 p.m. game between Iowa State and Portland State.