BATON ROUGE, La. – ASU softball will have two cracks at earning a berth in a super regional, and will face fifth-seeded LSU at 10 a.m. Arizona time in the regional championship game Sunday.
If ASU (36-20) loses the first game, it takes on LSU (46-12) again about 30 minutes later in a winner-take-all game.
Winning two games on Sunday is a scenario that has happened before. In 2014, ASU lost twice on the same day against Michigan, and in 2009 the roles were reversed with ASU taking two from LSU after the Tigers had run-ruled the Sun Devils the previous day.
ASU began the Baton Rouge regional with a 5-2 win over Nebraska (35-23), and followed that up with a 1-0 upset over LSU. Freshman Breanna Macha has thrown all 14 innings for ASU in the postseason, allowing just two runs.
"We have to make sure that we come out and play with the same kind of intensity and the same kind of focus that we did today tomorrow because this thing’s not over yet," ASU coach Craig Nicholson said after beating LSU Saturday. "That’s exactly what (LSU coach) Beth (Torina) is telling her kids. We get that. We will come out and play with that same kind of focus and that same kind of effort tomorrow. If we can do that, we give ourselves a chance.”
Although neither team announced who would be starting on the mound tomorrow, it'll likely be the freshmen again (Macha for ASU and Carley Hoover for LSU). Hoover pitched seven innings of three-hit ball in the game that put LSU on the brink, but picked up the save in the nightcap after coming in with two runners on and Nebraska trailing a run.
After the early game, Torina didn't know why her team struggled so much against Macha, but it appears she may have found an answer.
“I think they played not to lose earlier today instead of playing to win," Torina said. "I think they were very careful. I think they were cautious. I don’t know that they swung hard at times. I think they just tried to put things in play. I think they need to go up to the plate and attack and forget about the what-ifs.”
“I think a big key is for us to play knowing how good we are," LSU catcher Kellsi Kloss said. "We’re not in this position for no reason. We’ve worked so hard to get here and we need to come out with confidence tomorrow and be aggressive and attack and not be on the defense. We need to be on the offense at all times. We need to be the ones attacking, not the ones attacked."
In the nightcap, LSU switched its 4-5 hitters, moving third baseman Sahvanna Jaquish into the 5-spot and Kloss to cleanup. Both picked up RBI hits in the pivotal two-run 10th inning that gave LSU the victory.
"I thought maybe we take a little pressure off Sahvanna," Torina said. "She's been putting a lot of pressure on herself, maybe get her some different pitches, some different situations, and I think it worked out really well for us."
Reach the reporter at jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow @jjanssen11 on Twitter
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