Whether it was behind a game-changing home run or a dominant pitching performance, the ASU softball team found a way to win the series against Oregon.
The No. 3 Sun Devils (37-4, 4-2 Pac-10) claimed the first two games of the weekend before the No. 15 Ducks (30-8, 2-4) claimed the final game of the series, preventing the sweep.
In Friday’s opener, the Sun Devils battled their way to a 2-0 win. Then in game two, ASU slugged its way to a 10-5 thumping of UO. Sunday’s finale saw the ASU bats turn cold as the Ducks took the 2-1 win.
With the two wins over UO, ASU has now won six consecutive series against the Ducks. It’s also the second straight Pac-10 series victory for the Sun Devils.
In Friday’s series opener, stellar pitching was on center stage from both teams. ASU freshman Dallas Escobedo took to the circle against UO sophomore Jessica Moore.
The two hurlers went head to head, making it look easy through the first six innings. Moore held the Sun Devils to just two hits while Escobedo held the Ducks hitless through the games’ first five frames.
A single by freshman infielder Courtney Ceo in the sixth was the Ducks’ lone hit of the game.
The score remained deadlocked at 0-0 heading into the seventh inning. That’s when junior Christina Zambrana reached base after being hit by a Moore pitch.
One batter later, it was junior shortstop Katelyn Boyd who provided the heroics by driving a 1-0 pitch over the right-centerfield wall to break the tie and give ASU a 2-0 lead.
“Right before I went up to bat, coach [Robert] Wagner said to me. ‘Have a plan, they’re going to throw you in so know that’s coming,’” Boyd said. “So I backed off the plate a little bit. The first pitch was a ball, and the second pitch they left it over the heart of the plate and I was ready for it.”
It was a clutch at-bat for Boyd, who finally broke what had been a scoreless game.
“The girl made a mistake,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “They were trying to come inside and she missed over the plate, and Katelyn just squared it up.”
Escobedo would slam the door in the bottom of the seventh to earn her 17th win of the season.
The two teams squared off in an offensive shootout on Saturday following Friday’s pitchers’ dual.
Behind a 15-hit performance, the Sun Devils exploded for 10 runs including a four-run third inning. ASU scored at least one run in each of the first five innings.
After junior outfielder Annie Lockwood’s RBI double in the first, Escobedo allowed a three run homer to UO freshman utility player Kailee Cuico in the bottom of the inning.
Faced with a 3-1 deficit, sophomore second baseman Sam Parlich laced a two RBI singe in the second. One inning later, senior first baseman Mandy Urfer hit a two run home run to extend the ASU lead to 6-3.
ASU would tack on four more runs en route to the 10-5 win.
Freshman Mackenzie Popescue came on in relief, and picked up her 10th win of the season. Popescue entered in the fourth and allowed just four hits and one run in four innings of work.
“I went out there with no outs and the bases loaded so my adrenaline was really rushing,” Popescue said. “I’m that type of person, and I absolutely love the pressure and adrenaline. So I was really confident, and I knew I had a great defense behind me.”
In Sunday’s finale at Howe Field, it was yet another pitcher’s duel as UO’s Moore toed the rubber against Popescue.
Moore surrendered just one hit, an infield single in the opening inning, and then cruised to her ninth complete game of the season by allowing one unearned run and striking out six.
“We’ve got to put better at-bats together,” Myers said. “We left runners on too many times. No excuses, we just got to do better.”
The Sun Devils managed to plate an unearned run in the sixth when Boyd scored on an error by UO second baseman Kaylan Howard.
While ASU comes away with its second straight series win, it was unable to complete the sweep for the second straight weekend.
“Our problem right now isn’t jumping out and getting on, it’s finishing,” Boyd said. “We’re aware of that. We’re not too worried. We’ll take two out of three wins in a series any day.”
Reach the reporter at greg.dillard@asu.edu
