Sparked by consistent pitching and timely hitting, the ASU softball team resembled a finely tuned machine five games into the season.
The machine lost some of its steam Wednesday night in the first game of a doubleheader against Hawaii.
The Sun Devils dropped an 8-6 decision, but freshman left-hander Katie Burkhart and freshman utility infielder Mindy Cowles prevented them from overheating in Game 2.
Burkhart pitched a complete-game, two-hitter in her first career start, striking out 13 in a 2-0 victory over Hawaii at Farrington Stadium. Cowles provided ASU's only offense with two home runs in three trips to the plate.
"I was so excited," Burkhart said. "I have been waiting and waiting to get on the mound. Coach [Linda Wells] had enough confidence in me, and I was so excited to pitch well."
Burkhart (2-0) struck out seven of the first 10 batters she faced. She has totaled 22 strikeouts, allowing just four hits in 14 innings.
Cowles was impressed with the poise Burkhart showed in the circle.
"Katie was awesome out there," Cowles said. "It was definitely one of the best pitching performances of the year."
Cowles' performance at the plate was amazing in its own right.
In the bottom of the fourth, Cowles blasted her first home run on a full count off Hawaii senior Shannon Tabion. The 215-foot shot landed about 25 feet beyond the left-field fence. Cowles smacked her second homer off Tabion (2-1) in the sixth, clearing the center-field fence.
Cowles said she felt like she was in a zone her final two at-bats.
"My first game, I wasn't feeling it," she said. "My second game, I just changed my approach, and I was more relaxed at the plate."
Not many ASU players felt comfortable in the first game.
Hawaii (5-4) started the third with four consecutive singles to take a 1-0 lead. The real damage was done after Hawaii's first out, when senior catcher Denise Dahlberg, a Chandler native, hit a grand slam off ASU junior right-hander Ashley Werschky, who was tagged for five earned runs in 2 1/3 innings.
After falling behind 8-1, ASU rallied to make things interesting by scoring five runs the final two innings. But it wasn't enough to prevent the first loss of the season.
The Sun Devils (6-1) allowed three unearned runs on three errors and left nine runners on base.
Wells said she was happy with her team's resilience in the opener.
"I was impressed," Wells said. "We just kind of kept pecking at it. I didn't think we had much bouncing back to do. We just had to start over. I feel good about our ability to refocus and go after it again."
ASU didn't commit an error in the second game. It marked the first game in which the Sun Devils had no miscues since the Feb. 4 season opener against Texas-San Antonio.
Reach the reporter at jeremy.a.cluff@asu.edu.
