After two disappointing showings Friday and Saturday night, freshman left-hander Katie Burkhart showed the Sun Devils were players again in Pac-10 softball.
Burkhart went the distance and gave up four hits in ASU's 2-0 victory over No. 6 Stanford, helping the Sun Devils to their first conference win of the season. She struck out eight while walking one.
"I felt really good," Burkhart said. "The first inning I think was a little iffy for me, but I think after I settled down and realized that this game was the same as every game, I just started to find myself again out there on the mound."
Burkhart (10-4) did not allow a Stanford runner to advance past second base. She retired eight consecutive batters during the second to fourth innings.
WEEKEND REPORT
THE BAD: ASU committed three errors over the weekend and stranded 19 runners.
PLAYER OF THE WEEKEND: Sophomore catcher Heidi Knabe went 4 of 9 at the plate with two RBIs and played sound defense.
UP NEXT: ASU faces its biggest challenge of the season when No. 2 UA comes to Farrington Stadium on Wednesday night. The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The ASU offense did its part to ensure that Burkhart's solid performance would not go to waste.
Junior right fielder Bridgette Caron led off the game with a single and scored the first run five batters later when junior first baseman Ashley Werschky reached base on an infield single.
In the third, ASU struck for the second and final time when sophomore catcher Heidi Knabe drove in senior left fielder Valerie Sevilla with a double off of the left field wall.
Knabe and Werschky accounted for five of ASU's six hits, going 3 for 3 and 2 for 3, respectively.
Knabe said that it was Burkhart's poise in the circle that made the difference.
"She's starting to get more comfortable and believing in herself and having confidence," Knabe said. "She's just going out there and doing what she does. It's good to see that she finally believes in herself."
Not all went according to plan for ASU (26-9, 1-2 Pac-10). In Friday night's conference opener against No. 3 California, the Sun Devils stranded eight runners in a 4-2 loss.
ASU out-hit California 6-3, but it wasn't enough to rattle California senior right-hander Kelly Anderson (16-1), who allowed one earned run in seven innings.
On Saturday against Stanford, the Cardinal broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the fifth when junior center fielder Catalina Morris scored when ASU sophomore center fielder Michelle Smith had trouble handling the ball.
The Sun Devils managed four hits in the loss.
ASU coach Linda Wells said her team's ability to bounce back Sunday showed what kind of team she had.
"We played well in the first two, but I thought we were a little rusty," she said. "I was very proud of our team because I could tell in the locker room [before Sunday's game] that they were fine. They had a lot of energy, they were enthusiastic, they were very supportive of one another."
Reach the reporter at jeremy.a.cluff@asu.edu.
