ASU softball kicked off its 2017 campaign with a double-header sweep of the University of Texas, El Paso and Virginia to open the Kajikawa Classic.
Junior pitcher Dale Ryndak recorded the sixth perfect game in ASU history while her Sun Devil team also sparked the bats and run-ruled UTEP 8-0. To finish the evening, ASU defeated Virginia 4-1 with the help of redshirt junior Marisa Stankiewicz’s bat in the second inning and junior pitcher Breanna Macha’s confidence.
Ryndak's perfect game, Chilson's bomb lead ASU to mercy-rule win over UTEP
It only took 15 outs, but junior pitcher Dale Ryndak and ASU softball opened the season in incredible fashion Thursday night at the 2017 Kajikawa Classic.
A couple of timely walks and hits, along with Ryndak's perfect game – the sixth perfect game in ASU history – helped ASU softball record a dominating win. The Sun Devils defeated the UTEP Miners by a final tally of 8-0 in five innings, as senior shortstop Chelsea Gonzales knocked in the winning run in the fifth.
"We needed it," Ryndak said of the season-opening win. "We needed the mercy, the perfect game was like the cherry on top. I kind of like being an under dog, people don't really look at us as a force to be reckoned with anymore ... but we're still up there. We've trained harder this year than any other year and I think that's just the beginning of it."
Ryndak was dealing from the game's outset, recording four strikeouts through her first three innings in the circle, at which point ASU held a 1-0 advantage.
On top of the perfect game, she struck out six batters in her five-inning complete-game shutout.
"This morning, I texted a few of my friends and family members saying how nervous I was," Ryndak said. "I shouldn't be that way because I'm a veteran now. The first inning I knew it was just a good inning ... the third inning, I started to feel it was a perfect game and everybody started avoiding."
The lone run – the team's first of the season – was scored in the bottom of the second on a bases-loaded walk by sophomore infielder Taylor Becerra.
That walk was one of seven in the first three innings by UTEP (0-2) starting pitcher Erika Harrawood, the last of which set up junior outfielder Nichole Chilson for a grand slam to push the lead to 5-0.
SHE GONE!
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) February 10, 2017
Nichole Chilson with the GRAND SLAM for @ASUSoftball! pic.twitter.com/e9qJLAC0ZY
"Pitching behind people who can hit is the best feeling in the world," Ryndak said. "When someone like Nichole comes up, she's just so free in the box that I know my hitters are going to get runs for me, there's no doubt that I'm going to pitch behind an offense that puts up big numbers. It's a good feeling to play with people who have their back."
In the fourth inning, Harrawood was replaced by Allie Johnson, who quickly loaded the bases before recording an out, which set up Gonzales to knock in a run with a blooper into centerfield. Then, another run scored on a passed ball, as ASU opened up a 7-0 lead through the fourth.
By that point the Sun Devils' victory was all but sealed, as they wrapped things up a few innings early, giving the team extra rest before facing Virginia in the second of their two games.
Stankiewicz's homer sparks ASU in win over Virginia
ASU picked up right where they left off in its season opener, as junior pitcher Breanna Macha downed the first six Virginia Cavaliers she faced Saturday night.
While she didn't go for a perfect game, the Sun Devils (2-0) bats stayed hot and lifted them to their second win of the night, as they downed Virginia by a final of 4-1.
"That Virginia team is going to be good," first-year head coach Trisha Ford said. "That pitcher had some good movement, they're going to do well, so I think that was a big win for us."
After the first nine batters between both teams were retired in order, redshirt junior Marisa Stankiewicz drove a home run over the left field wall to open up the scoring and give the Sun Devils a 2-0 lead.
In a game where runs came at a premium, Stankiewicz's home run made a major difference, as it handed her team early control and momentum.
"We came out a little bit dead, I don't know if it was the doubleheader or something like that, but I felt like we needed to come out and prove something again," Stankiewicz said. "When we come out swinging we do a whole lot better."
McKall Miller answered for the Cavaliers (0-2) in the third to make it 2-1, recording the season's first hit and the first run allowed by ASU with one swing.
A double into left by senior catcher Katie Park set Virginia up with two runners in scoring position, but Macha was able to preserve the lead and work her way out of the jam. She allowed five hits and just one earned run in a complete-game victory.
Macha found herself in another jam in the final inning, but Ford showed confidence in her pitcher to seal the deal, which paid off.
"She's earned it," Ford said. "She's got to know, she's got to work her way out of those things. That's how she's going to grow, that's how she's going to flourish. When she gets in those situations, she's going to embrace it. You talk about a bulldog, that kid's a bulldog."
Later in the game, it was Chilson who came up with another clutch hit. She was called out trying to stretch a triple, but still drove in a run to build the lead to 3-1 in the fourth.
Another run came across in the fourth, as a stolen base by junior Brynley Steele set up an RBI infield single by McCarty to extend the lead 4-1.
The Sun Devils will be back in action at the Kajikawa Classic Friday against Purdue at 4 p.m. and San Diego at 7 p.m.. Both games will be played at Farrington Stadium in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at jeff.griffith21@asu.edu or follow @Jeff_Griffith21 on Twitter.
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