The 2010 season officially began on Feb. 11 for the ASU softball team.
Now, nearly two months later, the No. 10 Sun Devils sit at 31-4 overall, and a whole new season begins.
ASU opens Pac-10 conference competition Thursday, and the stakes get a lot higher. Seven of the Pac-10’s eight softball teams are ranked in ESPN/USA Softball’s top 25, including No. 1 Washington.
If it weren’t enough that Pac-10 play begins this weekend, the Sun Devils take on in-state rival No. 2 UA in a nearly sold out three-game set at Farrington Stadium.
“You’re going to have to play them sometime,” Myers said. “It’s going to be a test, but it’s going to be a test both ways.”
UA (28-3) and ASU enter the weekend as the nation’s top two scoring teams, as they both average 8.26 runs per game. Both also have team batting averages in the top five nationally, with ASU’s .346 ranking third and UA’s .339 fifth.
Within the Pac-10, ASU and UA rank second and third, respectively, in batting average, while ASU leads the conference in runs (289), hits (320), RBI (253) and walks (185). UA has the conference’s highest on-base percentage (.465), home run total (57) and slugging percentage (.606).
While the two teams dominate the offensive categories, the weekend is not likely to turn into a slugfest.
“When you play rival games, statistics don’t really factor into it,” Myers said. “You play a lot more from your heart.”
Myers said batting averages tend to drop during Pac-10 play because hitters are facing better pitchers. This weekend’s meeting pits ASU against one of the conference’s top pitchers in freshman Kenzie Fowler, who currently sports an 18-2 record and a Pac-10-best 0.71 ERA.
Fowler has allowed just 16 runs all season, averages 10.2 strikeouts per seven innings and allows 2.85 hits per seven innings, which is fifth-best in the nation. But as impressive as her stats may be, intangible elements will come into play this weekend.
“Kenzie is a freshman,” ASU senior left fielder Caylyn Carlson said. “She’s going to have to come into an atmosphere that she hasn’t yet experienced. She’s going to have to throw three of her best games against us.”
Fowler will likely match up against ASU sophomore Hillary Bach (15-1, 1.26 ERA) most of the way.
Both pitchers will have to take on some of the nation’s best hitters. ASU sophomore shortstop Katelyn Boyd is one of the nation’s leading shortstops, with a .459 batting average, 38 RBI, 13 home runs and a Pac-10-leading .598 on-base percentage.
UA freshman third basemen Brigette Del Ponte is leading the Pac-10 with 45 RBI to go with a .405 average and 11 home runs.
Although the statistics make the match up even more exciting, Myers stresses that with this heated rivalry, the atmosphere and emotion are what come into play most.
ASU has the home-field advantage, something both Myers and Carlson called “huge,” and will play in front of the largest crowd this season.
“The atmosphere is going to be unreal,” Carlson said. “There aren’t a lot of words to describe how it’s going to be here.”
The series starts Thursday at 7 p.m. and continues Friday at 7 p.m. The matchup concludes Saturday at 1 p.m. Only standing room only tickets remain for Friday and Saturday.
Reach the reporter at tyler.lockman@asu.edu
