TUCSON, Ariz. – For the second consecutive day, the No. 13/11-ranked Arizona Wildcats broke the hearts of the No. 20-ranked Sun Devil Softball team as a two-out home run by UA’s Sydney Stewart in the sixth inning provided the difference in Sunday afternoon’s 6-4 result.
Arizona (23-8, 6-3) jumped out to an early one-run lead following the first inning, before pushing it out to 3-0 after three and 4-0 following the fourth inning.
However, Arizona State (23-9, 3-6) did what it does best and fought back as the Sun Devils tied things up in the top of the sixth with a four-run, five-hit frame that was highlighted by run-scoring hits from Samantha Swan, Emily Schepp and Ryan Brown.
But, despite the momentum swinging in favor of the visitors, the Wildcats answered right back when Tayler Biehl led off the bottom of the sixth with a single back up the middle, before Stewart connected with a 2-2 pitch from Kenzie Brown to push Arizona ahead, 6-4, with a two-run home run.
In the seventh, though, Arizona State brought the potential game-tying run to the plate on three separate occasions following a Kaylee Pond double to start the inning. But Jalen Adams (13-4) forced the next three Sun Devil batters to flyout.
FROM HEAD COACH MEGAN BARTLETT
“Today was a heartbreaker. We started the weekend with a lot of momentum. Arizona is a great team. I mean, that’s the No. 11 team in the country. We weren’t quite as sharp as we wanted to be early on. And by the time we gained some momentum, it was a little late and that cost us. We just got to get back to the drawing board.”
GAME NOTES
- With her fourth inning walk, Ashleigh Mejia extended her on-base streak to 29 consecutive games.
- Entering the weekend’s three-game series having struck out just six times, Arizona State pitching staff struck out Arizona’s Sereniti Trice five times in three games following a second consecutive two-strikeout game on Sunday afternoon.
- Sunday’s game marked the seventh time this season that multiple Sun Devil batters were hit by a pitch.
- Arizona State’s Kenzie Brown recorded her 11th start – in 12 total starts on the season – with more strikeouts (4) than walks (3) during her four innings of work on Sunday.
- With her two-hit performance against the Wildcats on Sunday, Samantha Swan was credited with her team-leading ninth multi-hit contest on the season.
UP NEXT
Arizona State will now break from Big 12 Conference action and spend the upcoming week in North Carolina for a five-game non-conference slate that will begin on Wednesday, March 25, when the Sun Devils take on NC State (19-13, 1-5) in Raleigh at 4 p.m. MST. ASU will, then, travel to Chapel Hill to take on Marist (13-13, 7-1) and North Carolina (21-6, 5-6) on Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28.
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