In a complete team effort, the ASU softball team claimed three more victories and a series sweep over Michigan State this weekend.
The No. 8 Sun Devils (12-1) saw nearly everyone in the lineup contribute, and with timely hitting and pitching ASU extended its winning streak to eight games.
The Sun Devils handed the Spartans (7-6) a 6-2 loss on Friday night, and on Saturday took home a 10-2 run rule victory in five innings followed by a 5-2 win in the series finale.
In each of the three games, it was someone new who stepped up to provide the big play when the Sun Devils needed it most.
“That’s what great teams do,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “That’s the nice thing about it, all weekend long we’ve got somebody a little bit different that steps up there and is going to be the hero. Whether it’s Boyd or Haro, Parlich, Donnenwirth or Goodman with the double down the line. These are big hits. And Urfer got three hits in the first game. They weren’t really rockets but they were placed well. When you put the ball in play, good things happen.”
Video by Fahim Rasul
On Friday night, it was freshman pitcher Dallas Escobedo who took to the circle as ASU’s starting pitcher.
Escobedo quickly started collecting strikeouts and registered five in the first two innings alone.
After a double by senior third baseman Krista Donnenwirth to start the bottom of the fourth, senior catcher Kaylyn Castillo laced a RBI single to left field to put ASU up 2-0.
MSU would tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth, but a sac-fly off the bat of sophomore second baseman Sam Parlich would help ASU reclaim the lead 3-2.
ASU would add three more runs, and Escobedo sealed the win in the top of the seventh. She finished with nine strikeouts and earned her seventh win of the season.
“I was just happy to be finally over my sickness and feeling like me again on the mound,” Escobedo said. “They were taking really big cuts, so I had to spot it well.”
In the first game on Saturday afternoon, junior shortstop Katelyn Boyd continued her hot streak, hitting with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first.
Later in the inning, Parlich added a two-run homer and a two-RBI single from senior first baseman Mandy Urfer gave ASU an early 5-0 lead.
In the third, junior outfielder Talor Haro doubled home two more runs, and Boyd knocked in another with a single.
Junior pitcher Hillary Bach cruised through five innings, only allowing two runs en route to a 10-2 win.
Then in the series finale, freshman pitcher Mackenzie Popescue started in the circle for ASU against MSU freshman Cassee Layne.
In the bottom of the fourth, Urfer laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Alix Johnson to second before catcher Lacy Goodman drove a double into right field to score Johnson and give ASU the lead.
With two outs in the top of the fifth and a Spartan runner on third base, Escobedo relieved Popescue in the circle and immediately struck out Lindsey Hansen to end the threat.
Boyd came through yet again for ASU with a RBI double in the bottom of the sixth. An MSU fielding error allowed Boyd to score one batter later and made it a 4-1 ballgame.
ASU would tack on one more run on an Annie Lockwood RBI double, and Escobedo struck out Hansen again in the seventh for the final out to seal the 5-2 victory.
Haro finished with two hits, which extended her hitting streak to 12 games. Escobedo’s relief efforts earned her the first save of her young career.
It was a rare three-game series during the tournament season, but Urfer believes her team responded well.
“It was a really good series,” Urfer said. “I think that we grew from it. I think it’s really important that we do something like this to get ourselves ready for Pac-10, so it was really beneficial.”
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
