It’s a battle from beginning to end every year among softball’s elite, and the game has to be played competitively from start to finish in order to make a run at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

For the Sun Devil softball team, it’s also mental.

“We stress the mental game a lot here,” senior outfielder Jessica Mapes said. “It’s how you approach the game.”

The No. 4 Sun Devils (31-5, 3-0 Pac-10) are coming off a successful weekend in Tempe, in which they boasted not only an undefeated Pac-10 opening weekend, but also three mercy rule victories and a pair of shutouts against Oregon and Oregon State.

“Last weekend we did a good job playing the game start to finish,” Mapes said. “We didn’t let up, and we made a goal to score every single inning. I think we were pretty successful in that. We went out there and decided we were going to play the game hard all the way until the end.”

But, for the Sun Devils, the celebration was cut short and preparation for their next three games began right away.

This weekend the team will travel to Southern California to take on No. 5 UCLA on Friday and then make to Seattle to square off with No. 3 Washington.

“Every weekend we are trying to improve,” Mapes said. “We are always trying to get better, and we know that the Pac-10 is always rough.”

The latest USA Today softball poll features five Pac-10 squads ranked in the nation’s top 10.

Last year the Sun Devils went three for four in their meetings against UCLA (26-6, 1-2), including a 4-0 victory in the WCWS, and they have claimed five of the last seven matchups overall.

Still, the competition is going to be fierce.

“Both teams are completely different this year,” Mapes said. “[UCLA is] always a tough team to beat. I don’t expect anything less this year, I think it’s just going to be different because we have a [different] crew and so do they. It will be a fun, tough game.”

After Friday’s game against the Bruins, the Sun Devils will head north to take on Washington, where they will face tough pitching from last year’s Canadian Olympic hurler Danielle Lawrie.

The junior ace leads the conference in strikeouts and ERA
Still, amid stiff competition, the game plan is the same.

“It’s important to be mentally prepared for what you’re expecting to get that weekend, to not be intimidated and to go out there with the same mindset every time,” sophomore infielder Krista Donnenwirth said.

Last weekend, the Huskies (28-5, 1-2) dropped two consecutive games for the first time this season.

Reach the reporter at emiley.darling@asu.edu.