The game will begin tied at two in the bottom of the third inning.
They have four innings to play, and the series will end with a home field advantage.
Today, the Sun Devils will finish an April 11 contest against UA that was rained out in Tucson. Afterward, a second game between the intrastate rivals is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m..
“The good part about it is that it was going to be a two-game series down in Tucson,” freshman Katelyn Boyd said. “But since it got rained out, we played half of it there and we will play half of it here. It’s like a game and a half at each place. I definitely like the position we’re in, bringing the game back to our house.”
In their first meeting, the Sun Devils fell to the Wildcats 10-8, and have since gone 3-3.
But this time, they are coming off of a rough weekend, and the two losses they suffered to UCLA have given them more of a motivation to perform against UA.
“There are two choices after a weekend like this weekend: we can roll over and say we had our chance and blew it, or we can come back fighting and want it that much more,” senior Jessica Mapes said.
In their last meeting, the Sun Devils came back from a 7-2 deficit to take an 8-7 lead in the fifth inning. ASU couldn’t hold onto the lead, though, and UA’s Sam Banister’s second home run of the day ended the game with a score of 10-8.
“It’s good to win and keep that rolling, but it’s most important to win after you lose twice,” Boyd said. “Our team is not the type to say ‘Oh, we’ve lost twice’ and just give up. We’re fired up now. We just got beat twice and now we’re coming out to play. We are angry because we lost twice, and whatever team we were going to play next was going to be sorry because we’re going to come out ready to go.”
And this time, there is an advantage.
“Every time you see a team you learn about them,” said Mapes, who had her first career home run against the Wildcats in Tucson. “We have played them once; we’ve been going over film and talking about our approach and how we’re going to go into this game, but you never know. They might completely change what they did last time — you just have to be ready to make adjustments during the game.”
The anticipation that comes with a rivalry game has the team excited, but in order to be successful on Wednesday, the Sun Devils said they will need to play within themselves.
“It’s always an intense game against Arizona, and I think we’re going to come out there on Wednesday riled up to get a couple wins,” Mapes said. “The key for us is to have confidence and not get too excited.
I mean, it’s always exciting playing against Arizona, but we have to stay within ourselves and not try to do too much.
“Trusting our preparation — that’s the key for every game. We need to trust what we work on repeatedly, every day in practice; just go out there and have fun and play our game. If we play ASU softball, the scoreboard will take care of itself.”
Reach the reporter at emiley.darling@asu.edu.
