No. 20 ASU took a devastating loss to California in the seventh inning after leading by three.
In the first inning, junior shortstop Chelsea Gonzales hit a line-drive up the middle to score freshman third baseman Taylor Becerra and lead the Sun Devils 1-0.
However, Cal wouldn’t let the Sun Devils pull away without a battle; with a 3-2 count, an RBI hit to centerfield tied the ballgame 1-1.
Breanna Macha (6-4, 3.52 ERA) took the circle and pitched two innings for ASU until being relieved by redshirt junior Kelsey Kessler (12-6, 2.06 ERA).
Going into the second inning, freshman first baseman Ulufa Leilua would hit her fifth homerun of the season.
A two-run bomb to centerfield broke the tie and advanced the Sun Devils to a 3-1 lead.
The Golden Bears refused to be silenced and answered back with a solo home run to center field, keeping the game alive at 3-2.
ASU then broke away from the Golden Bears in the fourth inning.
Senior center fielder Jennifer Soria hit her ninth home run of the season, extending the Sun Devils lead to 4-2.
A double to center by Gonzales put runners on second and third, which gave a perfect setup for senior second baseman Nikki Girard to hit her 38th double of her career and knocking in another run for the Sun Devils.
ASU lead 5-2 going into the homestretch.
A late homerun by the Golden Bears in the sixth inning brought the scoring margin too close for comfort considering yesterdays extra-innings win.
An RBI-single by senior catcher Katee Aguirre would score the final run for ASU putting them up 6-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
A second home run off of Kessler brought in Dale Ryndak (8-0, 2.95 ERA) to relieve the pitching duties.
With ASU leading 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Golden Bears managed to rally back and score three runs off Ryndak to win the game.
The Sun Devils lost 7-6 off a walk-off double to center field.
ASU will look to win the series on Sunday in California at 2:00 p.m.
Reach the reporter at kcvalen1@asu.edu or follow @kvalenzuela17 on Twitter.
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