No. 15 ASU softball defeated South Dakota for the team's fourth straight shutout victory on Tuesday in its final game before Pac-12 play.
Redshirt senior pitcher Cielo Meza entered the circle for the Sun Devils (22-7) and took care of business, pitching all seven innings while striking out six Coyotes (11-16) and allowing only five hits.
The Sun Devils got the bats rolling early with a leadoff single from senior center fielder Kindra Hackbarth.
Freshman right fielder Jazmine Hill wasted no time, driving her in with another single, putting the Sun Devils on the scoreboard early.
Senior catcher Maddi Hackbarth followed with a two-run home run, giving her a Pac-12 leading nine on the season. She was in sole possession of the lead for two batters before freshman shortstop Alynah Torres matched Maddi Hackbarth with a home run of her own, also giving her nine on the season.
Meza cruised through to the sixth inning with little resistance tallying 1-2-3 innings in the second, third and fifth.
The Coyotes had their best scoring chance of the game in the sixth, loading the bases with one out. Meza escaped by striking out the next batter and forcing a fly ball to right field to preserve her shutout performance.
The Sun Devils added one more insurance run in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kindra Hackbarth, giving Meza a five-run lead entering the seventh inning.
Meza shut the door on the Coyotes, sitting them down in order to end the game and securing her complete-game shutout.
The Sun Devils will now look to Pac-12 play as they hit the road to take on No. 1 UCLA in a three-game series beginning Mar. 13 at 7:00 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at kbdyer2@asu.edu and follow @TheKamDyer on Twitter.
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