TEMPE -- The No. 21/21 Arizona State University softball team heads back on the road for the first in a series of three consecutive away weekends as the team will take on No. 14/14 Arizona in Tucson beginning Friday, March 27 with a Territorial Cup point on the line.
The series will get underway Friday with a 5 p.m. PT first pitch with Saturday and Sunday’s games being played at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. All three games of the series will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks. The series winner will take home an extra point for their instituation in the annual Territorial Cup series. The Devils currently hold a slim 6.5-5.5 edge in this year’s competition.
Scouting the Opposition
The Sun Devils are 95-99 all-time against Arizona in a series that dates back to 1971. However, the series has been a bit more lopsided in the Wildcats’ favor since softball become an NCAA sanctioned sport in 1982, with UA owning an 89-48-1 record since that time. The series has evened up a bit in recent years with the Sun Devils winning nine of the last 12, though ASU has won just seven total series against the perennial powerhouse in the Pac-12 era in 1986. The Devils won the series two games to one last year in Tempe, taking the first two before dropping a 10-inning marathon after wrapping up the Territorial Cup point after the first two games of the series.
The Wildcats are 27-7 this season and 2-1 in Pac-12 play with a series victory over Cal to open the Pac-12 slate. Arizona is 17-0 at home this season and don’t have a single player on their roster who has seen at least 30 at bats with under a .300 batting average (12 players). The team is ranked second in the conference and fifth nationally with a team .370 batting average and are 20th nationally in averaging 1.35 home runs per game with 46 on the season - 12th nationally.
Kellie Fox has helped lead the offensive surge for the UA with a .417 average this season to go with six doubles, three triples, five homers and 34 RBI. Katiyana Mauga (.376) and Chelsea Goodacre (.313) have the pop in the lineup, however with 13 and 12 homers respectively to go with 41 and 51 RBI - both totals that easily lead the team. Of Arizona’s seven players that have seen action in at least 30 games this season, Goodacre’s .313 average is the lowest on a team that can hurt you in any part of the lineup.
The circle has been an area of concern at times for the Wildcats this season with a team ERA of 3.25 - a number that hasn’t hurt the team too much given the fact opponents have a miserable 8.06 team ERA average when playing Arizona. That said, the UA has been prone to giving up runs this season and have been run-ruled twice (10-0 (6) against Florida and 20-2 (5) against Auburn) though all seven of the team’s losses have come to ranked teams. Michelle Floyd leads the team with a 2.38 ERA and a 15-4 record while freshman Trish Parks is 9-3 with a 3.57 ERA.
In The Rankings
The Devils remained at No. 21 in both the NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll as well as the USA Softball/ESPN.com rankings despite taking the series against then No. 12/14 Cal. ASU was ranked No. 13 in the NCAA RPI rankings that were released for the first time this season earlier in the week - a testament to the strength of schedule and big wins over ranked teams that ASU lays claim to this season.
The View From The Top
Over the past nine seasons, the Sun Devils have been among the most dominant teams in the nation. One need look no further than the weekly NFCA Coaches Poll to get a gauge of that. The Sun Devils have been ranked in 147 consecutive Coaches Polls, a streak that dates back to Week 2 of the 2006 season. The Sun Devils entered the top-10 in Week 6 of that season and have since been ranked in the top 10 in 128 of the 147 polls that have taken place since the team entered the rankings in 2006. ASU is one of just five programs to lay a claim to being in every poll since early in that 2006 season, joining Michigan, UCLA, Oklahoma and Alabama at the top of the list.
Strength of Schedule
ASU’s solid RPI ranking is due in large part to playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season. Of ASU’s 32 games this season, 14 have been against squads ranked nationally - going 6-8 in those games. ASU is 7-3 in its last 10 games and all but two of those games have come against ranked opponents. The Devils have three victories this season against teams that were ranked in the top-10 at the time of the tilt. The Arizona series will mark the 7th, 8th and 9th consecutive games that ASU has played against ranked opponents.
Craig Nicholson Leading the Way
The Sun Devils are in their second season under head coach Craig Nicholson. In his first season as the head coach at Arizona State, Coach Nicholson led the Sun Devils to an impressive 46-12-1 record and another berth in the postseason. ASU was one of sixteen teams selected to host an NCAA Regional earning the No. 9 national seed. Nicholson guided ASU to a third place finish in his first year in the historically tough Pac-12 conference. Despite it being just his first season, Nicholson led ASU to victories over powerhouse programs such as Oklahoma, Michigan, Texas, Washington and UCLA. Under his tutelage, two Sun Devils, Amber Freeman and Dallas Escobedo, were named NFCA Second Team All-Americans. In Nicholson’s new offensive system, Amber Freeman put up monster numbers batting a career best .406 with 11 home runs on her way to a First Team All-Pac 12 season. In her final season of a memorable ASU career, Dallas Escobedo, who also was named to the All-Pac 12 First Team, was dominant winning 24 games and posting a 1.95 ERA with 336 strikeouts in just over 233 innings.
Nicholson was the head coach at Ball State for the for seven seasons where he amassed a 241-162 record with the Cardinals and now holds a 1032-274-1 career record. Nicholson replaced Clint Myers, who accepted a similar position at Auburn on June 14. On top of coaching at Ball State, Nicholson was the associate head coach for the Chicago Bandits of the National Pro Fastpitch (NPF) in 2008 and helped the team to a NPF title.
Lights, Camera, Action
All three games this weekend will be broadcast live by the Pac-12 Networks. Kenzie Fowler will serve as the analyst throughout the weekend while Christian Miles will provide the call on Friday before passing the reins off to Daron Sutton for Saturday and Sunday’s games. Fans should check their local listings for the Pac-12 Networks station in their area, or they may tune in online at www.pac-12.com/live. Even with the live coverage the ASU Sports Information staff will provide a live blog throughout the weekend for fans to engage with other fans and receive live play-by-play updates. The blog will be available via the ASU Softball home page at www.TheSunDevils.com.
On The Airwaves
For the third consecutive year Blaze Sports Radio will provide the call for all of Arizona State’s home games this season. Fans in the Tempe area can tune in at 1330 AM and also listen online at ustream.tv/channel/blaze-sports.
A Look Back - Cal
The No. 21/21 Arizona State University softball team (22-10, 2-1 Pac-12) took its first Pac-12 series of the season over No. 12/14 Cal, winning two out of three games in the team’s Pac-12 home opening series last weekend in Tempe. The Devils bookended the series with a pair of W’s in a come-from-behind, 8-7 thriller in the first game and a tape-to-tape 11-6 decision in the rubber match. Cal won the middle game of the series, using a four-run, seventh inning rally in a 6-5 victory. ASU had eight home runs but seven different players over the course of the series, notable as Cal had given up just 18 all season as a team prior to facing the potent Devils lineup.
Looking For a Place In History
ASU’s senior class this year can provide plenty of work for the editor of the Sun Devil record books by the time the season is done. Amber Freeman currently finds herself fourth in ASU history with 50 career home runs, fifth with 178 RBI, tied for 11th with 228 total hits and tied for sixth with 41 doubles. Not far behind her in most categories is Haley Steele, who is currently tied sixth in homers (41), 17th in hits (202), sixth in RBI (176) and fifth in doubles (42). Elizabeth Caporuscio is locked in at 18th in home runs (26), 13th in RBI (133) and sixth in doubles (41). Fellow senior Bethany Kemp is 15th with 29 career dingers. Those four seniors hold a combined 134-23 (.854) record overall in games played at Farrington Stadium.
‘Ber, It’s Cold In Here
Two-time All-American and 2013 Pac-12 Player of the Year Amber Freeman entered her senior season season on USA Softball National Player of the Year Watch List and will look to lead the Sun Devils on and off the field. She’s helped with trek up the Sun Devil record books with her .388 batting average thus far this season and team-leading nine home runs while sitting second on the squad with 32 RBI. Her .757 slugging percentage easily leads the team, as do her 11 doubles (after having 10 in the entirety of 2014). Freeman has been among ASU’s most clutch hitters to date, batting 17-for-38 (.447) with two outs on the board and leading the team with 18 two-out RBI out of her 32 total. She leads the team lead with 11 multi-hit games in 32 games to date. In 2014, she led the team with a .406 batting average that went down as the 13th-best single season mark in program history. Freeman led the team with 69 hits and a .480 OBP this season as well, while ranking second on the team in RBI with 44. Freeman hit safely in all but 11 games on the season and reached base in all but five games of the 57 appearances she made.
Doing It On and Off the Diamond
Thirty of the top NCAA softball student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates today for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate softball and Arizona State University senior catcher Amber Freeman was among those selected. Freeman joins an exceptional list of former Sun Devils to be honored as a candidate for the yearly award, joining Jackie Velasquez (2008), Jessica Mapes (2009), Lesley Rogers (2011), Katelyn Boyd (2012), Dallas Escobedo (2014) and Bailey Wigness (2014) as other Sun Devil candidates in their respective years with Mapes, Boyd and Escobedo all advancing to become finalists. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.
A Steele Trap
Haley Steele enters the weekend with a .294 average, though she leads the squad with 36 RBI. She has done exactly what she’s supposed to do with a runner on third and less than two outs, bringing that runner home on 8-of-12 opportunities (.667) which included a walk-off grand slam against New Mexico State. Her 11 multi-RBI games this season are three more than any other Sun Devil. She has posted a team-leading 14 hits with runners in scoring position on 42 at-bats (.333) and has statistically been ASU’s best hitter with the bases loaded, going 5-for-9 (.556) this season. The senior finished the 2014 season batting .349 (second on the team) on the year with 12 home runs (second on the team) while knocking in a team-leading 50 RBI. Steele became the only player last season to reach four hits in a game, doing so in a 10-inning, 3-2 loss to Washington. She finished tied for the team lead with Freeman for most games with three or more hits at five.
B’s In the Trap
Bethany Kemp is yet another senior Sun Devil looking to help leave a legacy at ASU and she is currently tied for the team lead with nine home runs - three of which have been grand slams, including a walkoff one against No. 4/3 Oklahoma earlier this season. The senior has been exceptional at getting on base and currently leads the team with 26 walks, a total that is tied for fourth in the Pac-12. Kemp has also been one of ASU’s most consistent hitters when it comes to not leaving runners on base, stranding just 12 runners in the last five weeks after stranding 23 in the first two weeks of the season. The senior finished 2014 second on the team 11 home runs. Kemp is fourth on the team with a .579 slugging percentage while drawing 32 walks on the season, which was good for third on the roster. With 29 career home runs to date, she is 15th on ASU’s all-time home run list.
Chelsea Lately
Sophomore Chelsea Gonzales has shown she has no qualms replacing All-American Cheyenne Coyle with several highlight reel plays so far this season at shortstop with 71 assists and 57 putouts to just seven errors (.948 fielding percentage). Her bat has finally starting to compare to what fans became accustomed to last season and she brought her average above .300 against Cal, currently sitting at .301 for the season (fifth on team) and tied for third on the team with six home runs. As a freshman, Gonzales finished the year batting .333 on the season and struck out just 14 times - the least among Sun Devil starters - while posting a .356 on-base percentage. She finished with a team-leading 19 two-out RBI of her 45 total RBI that were second on the team. Finishing second on the team with 45 RBI, Gonzales’ effort was even more impressive as she she it in 138 at bats, between 30-50 fewer at bats than the majority of the ASU starters. She one of 25 semifinalists for the National Freshman of the Year trophy while she was also named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team for her efforts. She also became the first Sun Devil in postseason history to hit a home run in three consecutive games.
‘Ru-sci-o, ‘Ru-sci-o, ‘RU-SCI-OOOOOO
Elizabeth Caporuscio has been slowly finding some of her gap-to-gap power that made her so efficent last season and is batting .299 on the season while third on the team with seven doubles. Last season, Caporuscio batted .322 (fifth on the team) with a team-leading 17 doubles in the process - good for second in the Pac-12 and second in ASU single-season history. . She was second on the team with 16 two-out RBIs and proved she was the hitter you want with the bases loaded, with five hits in 11 opportunities (.455) and a grand slam on the season. She also led the team overall with 18 multi-hit games.
Hear No Evil, Si No Evil
Senior Sierra Rodriguez has made the most of her starting role in 2015 and has been one of the biggest highlights early on for the Sun Devils. Batting out of the leadoff spot, Rodriguez is currently third on the team with a .341 average and leads the squad with a .520 on-base percentage. She has reached base safely on 26-of-52 opportunities (.500) when serving as the leadoff batter in an inning and has shown ample base-running ability with a team-leading 27 runs scored. She’s also tied for the team lead with 24 walks. She had her team-leading 20-game reached base streak ended against Michigan at in the first game of the Judi Garman Classic but reached safely in the next nine games and has gotten on-base without harm in 30 of the team’s 32 games this season. She has been ASU’s most consistent batter in moving the base runner, successfully advancing her teammates on 35-of-54 opportunities (.648). She hit her first career home run against Oklahoma and led the team with two in the series against Cal.
Oh My Sash!
Sophomore catcher Sashel Palacios is another Sun Devil on a recent tear, slowly creeping her way up the batting order and now sitting fourth with a .316 average this season. Her .452 on-base percentage is currently second on the team and she has been incredibly proficient at advancing baserunners, doing so 22 times in 51 opportunities, a .537 average that is third on the team Her 74 putouts are second on the team and she leads the team in throwing out four runners attempting to steal base this season. Her three-run shot against San Jose State at the Judi Garman Classic was just the second in her career but proved to be the difference in the game, breaking a 3-3 tie and helping the Devils to a 6-4 final score.
Abs of Spiel
Junior Abby Spiel has quietly become a steady contributor to the Sun Devils and suddenly finds herself leading the team with a .396 batting average on 21-of-53 hitting, though she has been prone to the strikeout in leading the team with 12 this season. She earned the first two RBI of her career at the Lousiville Slugger Invitational.
Shifting Aguirres
Entering the opening weekend, junior Katee Aguirre (uh-gear-ee) had three career home runs in her first two seasons as a Sun Devil. She needed just one weekend to match that feat, launching three dingers in her 12 total at bats for a whopping 1.083 slugging percentage. Aguirre finished the weekend with eight RBI, good for second on the team, and a .333 batting average. Aguirre now has four home runs this season on six hits with 11 RBI following another pinch-hit home run against San Jose State at the Judi Garman Classic and the junior has certainly made the most of her time at the plate this year.
Just In The Nikk of Time
Much of ASU’s success this season has come from its proficiency in the bottom half of the batting order and leading that charge has been Nikki Girard. The junior has come on strong in recent weeks and was the team’s leading hitter at the Judi Garman Classic, posting a .438 average of 7-of-16 hitting with three RBI and a .500 overall on-base percentage that also paced the team through the weekend. Girard is batting .274 on the season with five doubles and currently has the team’s longest active streak of reaching base safely, doing so in each of the last 11 games. She has also been a menace to strike out, doing so just once this season and is currently ranked as the second-toughest person to strikeout in the Pac-12 and 10th toughest nationally. Girard is one of just two players from a power conference school to have one or fewer strikeouts this season.
One...Two...Three Strikes...Macha-ha-ha-ha
Freshman pitcher Breanna Macha (pronounced maw-haw) is starting to rack up the strikeouts and leads the team with 91 this season, a total that currently ranks third in the Pac-12 while her 27 batters struck out looking are tied for second most in the league. The youngster made history made history against Binghamton, pitching the first extra-inning no-hitter in ASU history in a 1-0, eight-inning victory. The youngster went 2-1 with a save at the Judi Garman Classic, becoming one of just two pitchers nationally to take home wins against two top-10 teams on the weekend (Michigan/Baylor) and was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for her performance, the first weekly award by any Sun Devil this season. Macha leads the team with 11 victories on the season.
A Dale of Two Cities
True freshman RHP Dale Ryndak is a long ways from her home in Downers Grove, Ill., but that hasn’t stopped her from asserting herself as the same solid pitcher those watching her in high school remember. The frosh carries a 9-4 record so far this season with a team-leading 3.43 ERA. She has shined the most with the lights brightest, not giving up a single earned run in 11 of 12 innings pitched against No. 4/3 Oklahoma and she responded to a three-run, game-tying sixth-inning by the Sooners last weekend with a 1-2-3 inning against the murderer’s row of OU hitters in the top of the seventh to set up ASU’s walk-off grand slam victory. Ryndak has been helped by her own capable defense, as she is fourth on the team with 25 assists on defense.
The New Dynamic Duo?
On a squad looking to replace the exceptional pitching tandem of Dallas Escobedo and Mackenzie Popescue, the ASU Softball program is one of just five teams nationally to bring in two Gatorade Players of the Year this season in pitchers Breanna Macha and Dale Ryndak. Macha achieved the accomplishment for the state of Arizona while Ryndak was the Illinois Player of the Year. It is the first time in ASU history it has gained two Gatorade Players of the Year in one signing class.
Double the Fun
Without question, one of the biggest turnarounds for the Sun Devils this season has actually come on the defensive end of the ball. Last season, ASU was ranked 203rd out of 289 programs in double plays per game, turning just 13 total on the season for a 0.22 double play per game average. ASU has already turned 21 double plays in 2015, a 0.66 per game average that is ranked fifth nationally and leads the Pac-12. ASU had five double plays in the Cal series alone.
Not Going Down Swinging
In some facets of life, going down swinging is considered a compliment. That’s not the case in softball and there aren’t many better than the Devils at avoiding it. ASU has struck out just 72 times this season, a total that is 18 fewer than ANY other team in the Pac-12. Not only that, ASU’s 72 strikeouts are 15 fewer than any other team that has played at least 30 games this season (Oklahoma has 87) and they have the fewest strikeouts of any team in a power conference. Only three Sun Devils have double digit strikeouts this season and five members of the starting lineup have five or fewer strikeouts. More important, ASU has 152 walks on the year to create over a 2:1 walk to strikeout ratio. ASU has worked the count full 114 times this season and on the 65 of those full counts where the ball was not put into play, ASU drew 53 walks on the payoff pitch to just 12 strikeouts, an incredibly 4.1:1 ratio.
Dinger Derby
Arizona State has developed a reputation for knocking the ball out of the park and has done so 48 times this season, a total that is currently second in the Pac-12 and eighth in the nation. The team’s 1.50 home runs per game pace the Pac-12 and are currently 14th nationally. Unfortunately, ASU has also given up 37 bombs this year and that ranks as the worst total in the conference and the fourth worst in the nation as well. ASU has three or more home runs in six games this season and have a home run in all but six of the 32 games it has played thus far. One out of every 5.8 hits for the Devils finds its way out of the park. There were plenty of longballs in 2014 for the Sun Devils, who finished third in the Pac-12 and ninth nationally with 74 over the course of the season - the seventh highest total in ASU history.
Grand Slama Jamma
The ASU offense booted six grand slams last season, two more than the 2013 season and just two shy of the total from 2012 and 2013 combined (8). The Devils already have five in 2015 and have lived and died by their success with the bases loaded. Three of those grand slams have resulted in “walk-off” victories, two by the true definition and one forcing a run-rule ending. The Devils are just 2-for-20 (.100) with the bases loaded in the team’s nine losses this season - going 0-for-4 in the team’s 13-inning loss to Washington - while hitting 17-for-42 (.405) in the team’s wins with the bases loaded. All five grand slams have come in victories.
Don’t Miss Your Chance
ASU’s losses this season haven’t come from a lack of chances. The Sun Devils have struggled at times to get run-plating hits in clutch situations and it has hurt them in the win column. In ASU’s nine losses losses, the Devils are just 2-for-20 (.100) with the bases loaded and an inauspicious 18-of-97 (.186) with two outs on the board, unable to keep innings alive. In those games, ASU is just 8-of-19 (.421) in bringing home a runner from third with less than two outs and just 19-of-107 (.178) with runners in scoring position while stranding an incredible 99 baserunners and averaging 9.9 per loss. In ASU’s victories, the Devils are 17-for-42 (.405) with the bases loaded and 73-for-204 (.358) with two outs. The Devils are 87-of-213 (.408) with runners in scoring position in victories and have brought a runner from from third with less than two outs on 41-of-64 (.641) chances. The biggest difference, however, has been that ASU’s left 99 runners on base (9.9 per game) over the course of eight losses compared to 139 in 22 wins (6.3 per game).
Taking Offense
If the first month of any indication, it has become apparent that run production is going to be more important than previous seasons while the team works through the growing pains of two true freshmen pitchers. ASU is 19-2 this season in games where it has scored six or more runs compared to a paltry 3-8 mark in contests where the team scores five or fewer runs.
A Middle and an End
ASU has done a fairly good job of scoring enough runs in most innings of games to give it a chance with two exceptions - the fourth and seventh innings. The Devils have outscored opponents 36-15, 26-11 and 43-21 in the first, second and third innings of games but that number drops to just a 31-27 advantage in the fourth inning. ASU rebounds nicely in the fifth and six, outscoring opponents 28-14 and 37-22 before pcoming out dead even at 22-22 in the seventh inning. Some of that has to do with the fact that ASU has not bat in the seventh inning in many games this season but nevertheless. ASU holds a +58 scoring advantage in the first three innings of games to just a +33 advantage overall after the third inning (innings 4 or later, combined),
It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over
The opening weekend for the Sun Devils put the team in a position where it had to respond after going behind and the team struggled, posting just one win in games in which it trailed at any point to three losses. Battling adversary has become a staple of the young 2015 season, however, as ASU has trailed opponents in 13 of the next 24 games after that opening weekend and have battled in those games to a 6-7 record in such situations with the only losses coming to ranked opponents..
A Look Back - 2014 Season
The Sun Devils earned a third place finish in the Pac-12 a season ago and finished the year 46-12-1 overall and 15-7 in conference play. The team advanced to the NCAA Tournament, hosting the Tempe Regional where it was eliminated in heart breaking fashion as what appeared to be an Amber Freeman walkoff home run was robbed at the wall in center field to send Michigan on to the Super Regional round. ASU finished the season with Dallas Escobedo and Amber Freeman each earning All-America second team honors while Escobedo was also named a Senior CLASS Award All-American. Nine Sun Devils earned Pac-12 All-Conference accolades while eight earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors after having just four the season prior. Amber Freeman and Bailey Wigness both earned Academic All-America honors as well.
Postseason Successes
The Sun Devils are coming off their 26th appearance in NCAA Tournament history, the fourth-highest tally of the 64 teams in last year’s tournament behind only UCLA, Arizona and Florida State. Last season marked the 10th consecutive NCAA appearance for ASU. ASU is 85-51 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and is 55-17 since 2006 in the tournament with two NCAA Championships and seven trips to the WCWS in that time with an incredible 32-5 record at home in the span.
Note on WCWS
The Sun Devils have advanced the WCWS in seven of the last nine seasons, two more than any other program in the nation in that time frame. Florida is second with five in that span. In that nine-year span, ASU has one of the top winning percentages in the country with a 473-114-1 record since 2006. The .804 percentage is tied for third nationally with Michigan behind only Alabama (.837) and Florida (.810).
Winning Percentage Since 2006 (Prior to 2015)
1. Alabama - .833 (485-97)
2. Florida - .812 (492-114)
3. Arizona State - .807 (473-114-1)
4. Tennessee - .803 (467-114-1)
5. Oklahoma - .800 (435-108-1)
6. Michigan - .797 (432-110)
7. ULL - .780 (422-118-1)
8. UCLA - .760 (397-125)
Opening Day Success
Arizona State is 40-7 on opening day dating back to 1971. The last time ASU lost its first game of the season was back in 1995.
Notable losses:
Dallas Escobedo | P, 24-9, 3x All-American, 1.95 ERA, 336 K, 59 BB, 12 shutouts, 30 complete games, .183 opponent average
Mackenzie Popescue | P, 20-3, 2.15 ERA, 76 K, 54 BB, 6 shutouts, 16 complete games, .238 opponent average
Cheyenne Coyle | SS, 2013 All-American, .310 AVG, 13 HR, 45 RBI, .469 SLG, .459 OBP, 44 BB
Alix Johnson | CF, 2012 All-American, .285 AVG, 9 HR, 32 RBI, 12 SB, 50 BB, .450 OBP, .509 SLG
Bailey Wigness | RF, .338 AVG, 13 SB, 17 BB, .419 OBP, 0 E