With a barrage of offense and a comeback victory, the No. 17 ASU softball team came away with a 7-3 victory over Cal State Fullerton in the final day of the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City.
The Sun Devils capped off a successful weekend with Sunday's victory, going 4-1 over the course the four-day showcase tournament.
ASU out hit the Titans 12-6 in Sunday’s contest, firing the opening salvo when freshman infielder Danielle Gibson hit a solo home run down the right field line in the second inning to give ASU an early 1-0 lead. The blast was the freshman’s fourth home run of the young season.
While the big fly put ASU on top in the early innings, Cal State Fullerton did not stay down for long as the Titans put up a three-run third inning to take the lead.
Cal State Fullerton senior outfielder Sammie Vandiver singled to bring home the Titans first run of the game, and junior outfielder Ari Williams followed that up with a triple to bring home Vandiver.
CSF freshman infielder Deshea Hill recorded the third run of the inning with an RBI single, but the Sun Devils would stop the bleeding from that point on and bring out the rally hats.
After a productive game against LIU Brooklyn on Friday, ASU freshman second baseman Bella Loomis started again on Sunday and capitalized on the opportunity once more.
In the fourth inning, Loomis came up with an RBI single up the middle, and that cut the CSF lead to 3-2. Following Loomis’ clutch hit, the line kept on moving.
ASU sophomore outfielder Kindra Hackbarth followed Loomis with an RBI on a bunt single, and sophomore shortstop Jade Gortarez then proceeded to punch a single up the middle to bring home Loomis and make the score 4-2.
The Sun Devils then added two more runs in the fifth inning to complete the comeback victory.
Hackbarth finished the game with three hits and sophomore center fielder Morgan Howe went 1-3 with an RBI.
As for the pitching duties, senior pitcher Breanna Macha threw a complete game to pick up her fifth win of the season.
Sunday’s win in Cathedral City certainly provided a happy trip back to Tempe for the Sun Devils, who are now 13-2 and could be climbing even higher in the national rankings come Monday.
The team’s only two losses have come to schools within the NFCA top-25, and ASU will return back to action at Farrington Stadium for three games in two days next weekend, when the Sun Devils host Coastal Carolina and New Mexico State.
First pitch between ASU and Coastal Carolina is set for Friday, March 2 at 7 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at atbell1@asu.edu or follow @AndrewBell7 on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepressport on Twitter.
