ASU gymnastics defeated Oregon State for the first time since 2006 by a score of 196.225 to 195.850.
The No. 15 Sun Devils did not score above 49.000 on vault for the fourth straight meet, scoring a 48.800. Freshman Anaya Smith and senior Cairo Leonard-Baker each scored their season's best on the vault, 9.875 and 9.850 respectively.
ASU's 48.800 was its worst score on vault this season. Despite the performance, ASU would take a lead in the first rotation by 0.300 points after no Oregon State gymnast scored above a 9.750 for the Beavers on bars.
ASU continued its dominance on bars, scoring a 49.300. Freshman Sarah Clark scored a career-high and meet-leading 9.900. Standout sophomore Hannah Scharf tied her career-best on bars with a 9.875.
“I have been building up to that 9.900 in practice,” Clark said, “I didn’t stick a single landing in warmups.”
The Beavers made a strong push to tighten the Sun Devil’s lead. OSU junior Madi Dagen scored a meet best 9.950 on vault. Despite Dagen’s strong performance, the Beavers' deficit would widen. After the second rotation, the Sun Devils' lead grew to 0.450 points.
The Sun Devils scored above 49.000 on beam for the third time this season. Scharf led the way scoring a 9.850. Junior Megan Thompson, freshman Emily White and Clark all scored a 9.825.
Oregon State did not go away, scoring its best team score of the night, 49.175, on the floor exercise. Senior Kaitlyn Yanish scored a 9.900 and sophomore Kayla Bird scored a 9.875. ASU's lead would slightly decrease to 0.325 after the third rotation.
In the final rotation, the Sun Devils scored a season-best 49.075 on floor exercise. Five of six Sun Devil gymnasts scored a 9.800 or higher, and Scharf led the way again for the Sun Devils, scoring a 9.850.
“It felt great to be part of a team win,” Leonard-Baker said, “We did what we had to do to get the win.”
After suffering an ankle injury against Oklahoma, Leonard-Baker was back on the floor exercise and helped ASU secure the win, scoring a 9.800.
“The adrenaline was rushing, and I didn’t even notice the small pain I had in my ankle,” Leonard-Baker said, “What’s next for us is beating Utah in our house.”
The Sun Devils will take on Utah at Desert Financial Arena on Feb. 6 at 1 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at njpietrz@asu.edu and follow @NPietrzycki on Twitter.
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