Softball's Strong Offensive Performance Not Enough Against No. 20 Cal
TEMPE – The Sun Devil softball team's offense struck early and often before fading in the late innings in a 11-7 loss to No. 20 Cal on Friday night.
ASU (18-26, 2-17 Pac-12) scored multiple runs in the second, third and fourth innings to claim a 7-3 lead.
Both teams endured innings in which they committed three errors. The Bears (32-14, 6-11) were able to do more damage off ASU's trio of miscues scoring twice as many runs in the sixth inning (six) than ASU did in the third (three).
The Sun Devils got off to a strong start, scoring three runs in the second inning thanks to solid hitting and smart baserunning. ASU took advantage of consecutive hits – a lead-off double by Jordyn VanHook and a single by Tanya Windle – to plate the game's first run after Alesia Denby flied out to left field allowing VanHook to reach home. Kayla Lissy followed with ASU's third hit of the inning, via a bunt, that put runners on second (Lissy) and third (Windle) thanks to a pair of throwing errors incurred by Cal while trying to defend the play. Samantha Swan pushed Windle home after flying out to center field.
ASU took advantage of another Cal mistake to score its third run of the inning. Lissy, who was on second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored after Cal catcher Lagi Quiroga committed the Bears' third error of the inning while attempting to keep Lissy from reaching third.
Not wanting to let the game slip away in the early stages, the Bears responded with three runs of their own in the top of the third inning to knot the game at 3-3.
The game started developing into a shootout in ASU's half of the third inning. Kelsey Hall, who notched ASU's first hit of the game in her previous appearance, led off by hammering a 3-2 pitch to right field to put ASU back on top 4-3. Three batters later, Windle took Cal pitcher Haylei Archer's initial offering over the center field wall to increase ASU's lead to 5-3.
It's outta here ! ??@tanya_windle smacking the second homerun of the night#ForksUp /// #O2V pic.twitter.com/MVTEnaHYjA
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) April 27, 2024
The Sun Devils padded their lead in the fourth inning after VanHook's double scored Sara Kinch and Hall to make the count 7-3. VanHook's clutch hit came with two outs after Hall (hit by pitch) and Kinch (walk) were able to extend the inning.
ASU's bid to upset Cal was dealt a serious blow when six Bears crossed home plate in the top of the fifth inning to take its first lead of the game 9-7.
The Bears added two more runs in the seventh inning to extend their lead to 11-7.
The Sun Devils did not go down without a fight as Windle led off the bottom of the seventh with her third hit of the game. After Denby followed with a walk the Sun Devils had runners on first and second with no outs. Unfortunately, the favorable situation was not able to net ASU the runs it needed to force the game into extra innings.
Friday's game was the first of six the Sun Devils are hosting to conclude the regular season. Play in this weekend's series vs. Cal continues on Saturday (5 p.m. MST) and concludes on Sunday (12 p.m. MST).