Strong pitching has been at the forefront of the ASU softball team’s success early this season.
As the No. 9 Sun Devils (5-1) continue tournament play with the Littlewood Classic in Tempe this weekend, they hope to develop a consistent offensive attack.
ASU managed to score 17 runs against Western Michigan and 11 against San Jose State last weekend. But the team struggled at times to hit with runners on base.
The Sun Devils stranded 11 base runners during their lone loss of the season, which came against Utah.
“We’ve got to do a better job of hitting,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “We’ve got to do a better job of hitting with people on base. Hopefully, we’re going to be able to change a few mindsets a little bit. The first weekend out, we had a few people that were trying too hard and not trying smart enough.”
The Sun Devils will get things started in this weekend’s tournament with a Friday afternoon matchup against Seattle University.
The Redhawks (0-5) travel south to Tempe in a desperate search for their first win of the 2011 season. Seattle was handed a 10-0 defeat against UC Santa Barbara in the weekend finale of the UCSB Gaucho Classic I last Sunday.
Sophomore pitcher Jessica Ulrich, who started 13 games in the circle last season, leads the Seattle pitching staff. Ulrich notched four wins and struck out 39 batters, all while leading the team at the plate with 30 RBIs.
ASU will conclude the Littlewood Classic with another afternoon game against Seattle on Sunday.
Illinois State is ASU’s second Friday opponent. The Redbirds (4-1) enter their second tournament of 2011 riding a three-game winning streak.
ISU also boasts a talented pitcher in junior Megan Warner, who is coming off a 15-win season in which she tossed five shutouts.
The Redbirds handed ASU a shocking 10-9 loss in nine innings during last year’s matchup in the Littlewood Classic.
As the ASU offense looks to improve with runners on base, sophomore second baseman Sam Parlich will be called upon after a strong first weekend at the plate.
Parlich smacked two home runs and collected two hits against Cal Poly, two hits against Utah and three more against San Jose State.
“I’m feeling pretty good, pretty confident,” Parlich said. “Just trying be relaxed when I step in the box and just see a good pitch to hit. It doesn’t matter where in the lineup I hit, I have the same approach: just be relaxed and get my job done.”
On Saturday, ASU will take on Idaho State in the first of two contests. This weekend’s tournament is the season opener for the Bengals.
The ASU offense will most likely face off against senior pitcher Kandis Clesson. Clesson, who led the team with 11 wins last season, is the team’s all-time strikeout leader with 289 heading into her final year as a Bengal.
However, Clesson did post a 4.57 ERA last season.
In Saturday’s second game, ASU will take to the field against Iowa. The Hawkeyes (1-4) are off to a slow start in 2011 and are 10-21 all-time against ASU.
Similar to ASU’s other opponents, Iowa has a talented pitcher in freshman Kayla Massey. In her first career collegiate start, Massey threw a complete game shutout over Maryland last Friday.
Iowa’s sophomore pitcher Chelsea Lyon has also experienced recent success in the circle. Lyon struck out a career-high seven batters in her start against East Carolina last Saturday, surrendering only a single unearned run.
Against talented pitching, the Sun Devils look to implement a more aggressive approach at the plate all weekend.
“I think that part of the reason why we weren’t scoring those runners as much is that we were being a little passive in the box,” senior first baseman Mandy Urfer said. “We need to be more aggressive. We definitely came out on Sunday and showed that a lot more.”
Reach the reporter at gregory.dillard@asu.edu
