After splitting two games on the first day of the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, California, the No. 17 ASU softball team returned to action on Friday afternoon with a 9-5 victory over LIU Brooklyn.
Friday's game saw a scoreless opening frame, but ASU dropped a four-spot on the Blackbirds in the second inning.
ASU freshman infielder Bella Loomis, sophomore outfielder Kindra Hackbarth and sophomore shortstop Jade Gortarez all recorded RBIs in the inning, and the offense did not stop there.
Junior outfielder Fa Leilua doubled to right center field in the third, brining home freshman first baseman Danielle Gibson.
Loomis added another RBI later in the inning, and the Sun Devils jumped out to a 9-1 lead after the fourth inning.
Among others, Gortarez picked up two RBIs, and junior center fielder Skylar McCarty went 2-3 in Friday’s contest.
LIU Brooklyn senior infielder Nereyda Gutierrez hit a solo home run in the Blackbird half of the fourth inning, and Gutierrez would later pick up two RBIs in the fifth inning when LIU tried to mount a comeback.
In the fifth inning, the Blackbirds tallied four runs, but the ASU lead was already out of hand.
ASU senior pitcher Dale Ryndak picked up the win in Friday’s game, making her 3-0 on the season.
Ryndak threw six innings, and although there was a five-spot on the scoreboard, the senior right-hander only allowed one earned run.
The Sun Devils made four errors that LIU Brooklyn took advantage of, and that ultimately aided in the Blackbirds four-run inning.
Nevertheless, ASU closed out the final two innings by allowing no runs, and Ryndak’s senior counterpart Breanna Macha came on in relief to close out the game.
Macha faced the minimum amount of hitters in the seventh while striking out two of the three hitters that she faced.
With the win, ASU is now 11-2, and the team’s only two losses have come against ranked opponents who the Sun Devils are possibly liable to see down the road in postseason play.
Up next, ASU will rest and recover after playing three games in less than 24 hours, and the Sun Devils will get ready to take on Liberty University tomorrow night in Cathedral City at 8:30 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at atbell1@asu.edu or follow @AndrewBell7 on Twitter.
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