The ASU softball team proved why it belongs in the top spot in the first series since assuming the No. 1 national ranking.
Behind a pair of dominant pitching performances, the No. 1 Sun Devils (39-5, 6-3 Pac-10) captured a 2-1 series win over defending national champion UCLA.
Freshmen pitchers Dallas Escobedo and Mackenzie Popescue each tossed four-hit shutouts against the No. 9 Bruins (29-9, 5-4) in the second and third games of the series, respectively.
“Both of them are quality kids, and clearly quality pitchers,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “We didn’t know what to expect. For them, this was their first Pac-10 opener in front of our crowd.”
It was a come-from-behind series win for ASU after losing Friday night’s opening game 4-1. The Sun Devils would then shut out UCLA 2-0 and 5-0 in the next two matchups.
The ASU pitching staff unleashed 20 consecutive innings of shutout softball, after allowing four runs in the first inning on Friday.
It was a battle of aces in the opener as Escobedo took on UCLA senior Donna Kerr, and the Bruins threatened early by loading the bases with two outs in the first inning.
Escobedo was one strike away from escaping the threat unscathed before UCLA freshman shortstop Kellie Fox launched a 2-2 pitch over the centerfield fence for a grand slam.
Kerr was focused in the circle after allowing two batters to reach in the first. With a four-run lead behind her, the right-hander shut down the Sun Devil lineup by holding them to just two hits in the first six frames.
The Sun Devils were looking for a rally in the bottom of the seventh when senior catcher Kaylyn Castillo provided ASU’s lone offensive spark.
She smacked a solo home run to left field to put the Sun Devils on the board.
“I was just looking for a base hit,” Castillo said. “That’s probably why I hit it hard because the more you want it, the less you do well. So I wanted to start a rally, and I wanted to get on base.”
Castillo’s homer was all the Sun Devils could muster as junior pitcher Aleah Macon relieved Kerr and sealed the 4-1 UCLA victory.
Saturday was a battle of two talented freshmen pitchers in ASU’s Popescue and UCLA’s Jessica Hall.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when ASU pieced together a rally.
After two walks and a double loaded the bases, senior third baseman Krista Donnenwirth broke the tie with a two-out, two-RBI single to center.
That’s all Popescue would need as she cruised the rest of the way.
With the home faithful on their feet, Popescue recorded a 1-2-3 top of the seventh to capture the shutout victory.
“It felt awesome,” Popescue said. “I just kept going out there and I kept having to tell myself not to see the end because every time I see that seventh inning my adrenaline goes up and I know I got to keep it down.”
With the series knotted at 1-1 heading into Sunday’s rubber game, both teams called on their aces to try and deliver a series win.
Escobedo and Kerr faced off for the second time in three days, but this time it was Escobedo who held the upper hand.
Kerr held the Sun Devils hitless until the third inning when senior first baseman Mandy Urfer led off the inning with a long solo home run to left field.
Then in the fourth, junior infielder Christina Zambrana laced an RBI single to left center to extend the ASU lead to 2-0.
Home runs from junior right fielder Annie Lockwood and Urfer pushed the Sun Devil lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth.
With a runner on first and UCLA down to its final out, Escobedo froze junior center fielder Katie Schroeder on an 0-2 pitch for the strikeout.
Her performance was ASU’s second straight four-hit shutout from a freshman pitcher.
It was a monumental series win for the Sun Devils, who bounced back to win two straight against a top-10 opponent.
“It was awesome,” Urfer said. “Especially coming from a first loss, to go and take these last two from them felt great. It’s the right road to where we want to go to next.”
Reach the reporter at greg.dillard@asu.edu
