Looking to rebound from a two-loss weekend, the ASU softball team made a statement in Westwood, Calif., over the weekend with the team’s first ever three-game road sweep of No. 5 UCLA.
Proving they belong among the Pac-10 elite, the No. 9 Sun Devils rocked the Bruins 8-5 in Friday’s series opener. ASU kept rolling Saturday with a 4-2 win and completed the sweep Sunday, edging out a 2-1 win behind a stellar performance from sophomore pitcher Hillary Bach.
The trio of victories marked the first time ASU has ever notched a three-game sweep of UCLA in Westwood.
“I think it really showed that we can compete with anyone,” Bach said. “On any given day, when we give our best, we can compete with the best.”
ASU (35-6, 4-2 Pac-10) took the first game from UCLA (27-9, 1-5) behind a powerful offensive showing. It took a little time to get going, though, as the first three innings saw Bach and UCLA junior pitcher Donna Kerr hold their opponents scoreless.
“[The] Pac-10 brings out the best in all aspects of the game,” Bach said. “Their pitchers were awesome.”
Junior catcher Kaylyn Castillo got things started in the fourth inning with ASU’s first hit, a solo home run to left field. But UCLA sophomore first baseman Dani Yudin tied the game back up with a solo shot of her own in the Bruins’ part of the inning.
The Sun Devils broke the game wide open in the sixth when two walks and an error loaded the bases. Senior Katie Crabb stepped in to pinch hit and smacked a 3-2 pitch over the wall in left-center field for a grand slam and a 6-1 ASU lead.
UCLA would battle, notching two more long balls and four runs, but ASU kept hitting, too. Sophomore right fielder Annie Lockwood hit her 10th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh.
“We kind of knew what we wanted to do,” Lockwood said. “We just tried to really execute our plan.”
Bach got the win in a complete-game effort, allowing five runs on eight hits and six strikeouts.
Saturday’s game saw freshman Sam Parlich (7-4) get the start for ASU. She didn’t disappoint, going a full seven innings while giving up two runs on five hits to earn her seventh win of the year.
The ASU offense backed Parlich with two runs in the second inning off of a home run from senior left fielder Caylyn Carlson. ASU got two more runs in the seventh after a UCLA error.
Kerr (13-5) took the loss, her second of the weekend.
Looking to sweep the Bruins, ASU sent Bach to the circle again Sunday. The ace brought another complete-game gem, baffling the UCLA offense with five hits and just one run.
Bach (17-2) got the win despite an anemic day for the ASU offense. UCLA junior pitcher Whitney Baker (0-1) held the Sun Devils to eight hits and two runs in seven innings of work.
“She was more of a drop ball, slower pitcher,” Lockwood said. “I don’t think we were ready for that, but we did a really good job changing our plan.”
Crabb notched another RBI for the weekend with a single in the second inning. Lockwood stayed hot with another home run, a solo shot to lead off the fourth inning.
“We did a really good job going out and attacking this weekend,” Lockwood said. “We scored first in every game.”
The sweep puts ASU in a tie for second in the Pac-10 with Stanford, behind Washington and Oregon.
ASU now enters a more favorable stretch with two home series in the next two weekends against No. 15 California and No. 21 Oregon, respectively.
Reach the reporter at tyler.lockman@asu.edu
