Strong pitching and a big weekend from sophomore shortstop Katelyn Boyd propelled the ASU softball team to a sweep of Cal Poly in the No. 11 Sun Devils’ final series before Pac-10 play.
The Sun Devils opened the series with a quiet win over the Mustangs Friday night behind an all-around team effort. ASU was able to manufacture runs instead of relying on its offensive firepower.
“We were able to do some of the smaller things that we weren’t able to do earlier on,” ASU coach Clint Myers said.
Cal Poly junior pitcher Anna Cahn held the Sun Devils scoreless through two innings, but ASU’s bats came alive in the third. Boyd doubled in the first of four ASU runs in the inning.
Two of ASU’s four runs in the third came from runners who reached on errors.
“If you’re giving us four or five outs in an inning, we’ve got a pretty good chance to score,” Myers said.
Sophomore Hillary Bach got the win for ASU in a complete-game effort, allowing three runs on five hits and four walks.
Sophomore right fielder Annie Lockwood finished the game 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
Bach took to the circle for ASU again Saturday and threw five innings, giving up just one hit to earn her 15th win of the season. ASU associate head coach Robert Wagner said Bach (15-1) was pulled after five innings, with ASU up 5-0, to get some rest before conference play begins.
ASU got on the board early when Boyd doubled home a run and senior left fielder Caylyn Carlson singled in a run.
Back-to-back home runs from Boyd and junior third baseman Krista Donnenwirth in third inning put ASU up 4-0.
Boyd went 3-for-4 with three RBI and finished the weekend 7-for-10 with six RBI, six runs scored and six stolen bases.
The ASU offense stalled in the second game of the doubleheader, and the team needed eight innings to get their 30th win of the season.
Cahn held ASU to seven hits and allowed just one earned run.
“[Cahn] was pitching good pitches, and we were hitting them how she wanted us to,” Boyd said.
ASU plated two runs, both on singles from Boyd and junior first baseman Mandy Urfer, but a fourth inning two-run home run from Cal Poly freshman shortstop Trista Thomas ultimately led to the 2-2 tie and an extra inning.
With one out and runners on first and second, sophomore outfielder Talor Haro singled home the game-winning run.
Senior Megan Elliott got the win in eight innings of work, giving up two runs on six hits.
“Elliott was outstanding,” Wagner said. “She gave up the one home run, and other than that she was pretty dominant.”
Elliott got another opportunity Sunday, but she wasn’t as sharp, allowing three runs on eight hits in two and a third innings of work. Freshman Sam Parlich came on to pitch the rest of the run-rule shortened game, but Elliott (11-1) got the win.
ASU broke the game wide open in the first inning, posting nine runs on just five hits, as two Mustang errors gave the Sun Devils a chance. Cahn also walked the game’s first two batters.
The Mustangs tried to rally back, tying a season-high with 11 hits, but it wasn’t enough to prevent their seventh straight loss.
Urfer led the offensive barrage for ASU, finishing the day 2-for-3 with a double, home run and four RBI. Urfer’s home run led off the ASU fifth inning that saw the Sun Devils put up three runs, but it was junior designated player Kaylyn Castillo’s fifth inning single that won the game for the Sun Devils, as she ended the day 2-for-4 with three RBI.
ASU has now won seven straight games, but the schedule only gets tougher as in-state rival UA comes to Tempe next weekend.
“We’ve got three days of practice before the series with the U of A,” Myers said. “We understand what needs to be done.”
ASU plays at Farrington Stadium again next weekend, in a three-game series with UA.
Rea ch the reporter at tyler.lockman@asu.edu
