TEMPE – Despite a courageous comeback effort, Sun Devil Softball fell 6-5 to BYU in the second game of its Big 12 series at Farrington Stadium on Friday night.
BYU struck first by scoring two runs in the first inning. The Cougars added a homer in the third and another run in the fourth to make it 4-0.
The Sun Devils had chances to get on the scoresheet in the fourth and fifth innings. Both times, however, BYU thwarted ASU with inning-ending double plays.
The bottom of the sixth saw Arizona State get runners on second and third with one out. The Sun Devils scored their first run of the game when Grace Molitor crossed home plate on a Yannixa Acuña RBI lineout. That was followed by Ashleigh Mejia scoring on a wild pitch which cut the BYU lead in half.
The Cougars reclaimed their four-run lead with two in the seventh, but the Sun Devils wouldn't go down quietly. Takyla Davis and Tiare Ho-Ching both singled and got into scoring position. Kelsey Hall proceeded to smash a three-run home run to get ASU within one. The comeback bid would fall short as BYU held on to win.
Notable
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On the team's performance
"We ask them to have their best at-bats at the end of the game because that's when you're going to win them. I felt our pitch selection wasn't great early on, and that's not to take anything away from (BYU pitcher Dahle). She's a very good pitcher, and she did a nice job. We still had nine hits, and they had 11 hits. I think if we tighten it up a little bit on the mound, we probably have a different result tonight."
On the outlook going into the series finale
"We'll get back to 70 and sunny and being spicy, competitive and aggressive. All the things that this young team does really well. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I don't know that we quite had our moxie in the first three or four innings tonight. So we'll go to sleep, we'll find that, and we'll come back and try to win a series tomorrow."
Graduate Outfielder Kelsey Hall
On her at-bat in the seventh inning
"I was sitting on the curve, and I think she probably knew that. That is why I didn't get any and I found myself competing from behind. In the end, I was just trying to compete and hit a ground ball to the right side. Just trying to simplify it and not make the moment bigger than it was."
Up Next
The Sun Devils will look to win the series against BYU on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Farrington Stadium.
BYU struck first by scoring two runs in the first inning. The Cougars added a homer in the third and another run in the fourth to make it 4-0.
The Sun Devils had chances to get on the scoresheet in the fourth and fifth innings. Both times, however, BYU thwarted ASU with inning-ending double plays.
The bottom of the sixth saw Arizona State get runners on second and third with one out. The Sun Devils scored their first run of the game when Grace Molitor crossed home plate on a Yannixa Acuña RBI lineout. That was followed by Ashleigh Mejia scoring on a wild pitch which cut the BYU lead in half.
The Cougars reclaimed their four-run lead with two in the seventh, but the Sun Devils wouldn't go down quietly. Takyla Davis and Tiare Ho-Ching both singled and got into scoring position. Kelsey Hall proceeded to smash a three-run home run to get ASU within one. The comeback bid would fall short as BYU held on to win.
Notable
- Tanya Windle doubled in the first inning to extend her hitting streak to eight games.
- Takyla Davis had a pair of hits for her second multi-hit game of the season.
- Hall's home run in the seventh is her team-leading sixth of the season, matching her total from the entire 2024 season.
Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett
On the team's performance
"We ask them to have their best at-bats at the end of the game because that's when you're going to win them. I felt our pitch selection wasn't great early on, and that's not to take anything away from (BYU pitcher Dahle). She's a very good pitcher, and she did a nice job. We still had nine hits, and they had 11 hits. I think if we tighten it up a little bit on the mound, we probably have a different result tonight."
On the outlook going into the series finale
"We'll get back to 70 and sunny and being spicy, competitive and aggressive. All the things that this young team does really well. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I don't know that we quite had our moxie in the first three or four innings tonight. So we'll go to sleep, we'll find that, and we'll come back and try to win a series tomorrow."
Graduate Outfielder Kelsey Hall
On her at-bat in the seventh inning
"I was sitting on the curve, and I think she probably knew that. That is why I didn't get any and I found myself competing from behind. In the end, I was just trying to compete and hit a ground ball to the right side. Just trying to simplify it and not make the moment bigger than it was."
Up Next
The Sun Devils will look to win the series against BYU on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Farrington Stadium.