In stark contrast to their road sweep of UCLA a week ago, the ASU softball team dropped three games at home to No. 19 California over the weekend.
ASU’s runners left on base and a barrage of Cal home runs powered the Golden Bears, and the No. 6 Sun Devils dropped to 35-9 and 4-5 in Pac-10 play.
Cal (33-11, 4-5 Pac-10) opened the series with a 3-1 win Friday and followed with an 8-0 win Saturday. The Bears finished the sweep 11-3 Sunday, capitalizing on Sun Devil miscues to steal the win.
ASU left 25 runners on base in the three games.
“They were here to play,” ASU sophomore pitcher Hillary Bach said od Cal. “They came out attacking, and we didn’t respond well.”
The Sun Devils came out flat Friday night, and Cal took advantage. Despite out-hitting the Golden Bears, ASU was only able to put one run across the plate.
Cal freshman pitcher Jolene Henderson went a full seven innings, allowing seven hits and striking out six as she baffled the Sun Devils.
“I don’t think we were ready to play,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “We played great softball against UCLA. We did not do that [Friday night].”
Bach threw a complete game as well and allowed three runs on just five hits, but she couldn’t get any offensive support. When the Sun Devils did get runners on base, they weren’t able to bring them around, stranding a total of nine runners on the night.
“If you come out there and execute what your supposed to do, some of those runners score,” Myers said. “It was just a failure to execute the things that we practice every single day.”
Despite battling a back injury, senior left fielder Caylyn Carlson went 3-for-3 with a stolen base.
Saturday’s game brought more of the same, as Cal shut out ASU in six innings. Cal junior pitcher Valerie Arioto (15-6) dominated ASU, giving up just two hits. Arioto also helped her own cause with a three-run home run in the sixth inning.
Arioto’s shot was one of four Cal hit off ASU. Freshman catcher Lindsey Ziegenhirt put the Bears on the board early with a three-run home run in the first inning. She homered again to lead off the third inning, her third of the weekend.
The Sun Devils were again doomed by runners left on base, as they stranded seven. Freshman Sam Parlich (7-4) got the start for ASU, but lasted just two innings, giving up five runs on five hits. Senior Megan Elliott finished the game for ASU and allowed three runs on three hits and four walks.
Trying to avoid the sweep on Sunday, ASU sent Bach to the circle again, but the Cal bats proved too much for ASU. Ziegenhirt homered again, but it was Arioto that filled the scoreboard for Cal.
With the game tied 2-2 in the fourth inning, senior first baseman Katie Crabb dropped a foul popup that would have been the third out. Two batters later with the bases loaded, Arioto unloaded on a 3-2 pitch for her second home run of the day, putting Cal up 7-2. Arioto also homered in the first inning and finished 3-for-4 with five RBI.
The ASU offense managed 10 hits off Henderson (15-5) and Arioto, but the Sun Devils stranded nine runners.
“It’s hard in general in Pac-10 to get runners on,” Carlson said. “When you do get runners on, leaving them on base is just unacceptable.”
Carlson hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, and sophomore Talor Haro went 3-for-3, but the offense was unable to back up Bach, who took her second loss of the weekend. Bach allowed 11 hits and five home runs in 6.2 innings of work.
“They didn’t beat us in this game — we beat ourselves,” Myers said. “We clearly have a better team than what they showed this weekend.”
Reach the reporter at tyler.lockman@asu.edu
