After capturing the 3-1 win over Stanford on Thursday night, the ASU softball team knew it had claimed a share of the 2011 Pac-10 title.
It was during the postgame festivities when the No. 1 Sun Devils (49-5, 16-3 Pac-10) learned they would not be sharing the conference championship.
In an extra-innings battle two hours south in Tucson, California suffered a 2-1 loss against UA to eliminate itself from conference title contention.
With that loss and the Sun Devils’ win, ASU claimed the Pac-10 title outright for just the second time in program history.
It’s the first Pac-10 championship for ASU since it went 18-3 in Pac-10 play and won the title in 2008.
“It’s amazing,” senior first baseman Mandy Urfer said. “It reminds me a little bit of my freshman year except a little bit better. Because like I said, this team is a lot more talented than our 2008 team. I’m really excited and as a senior, it feels great.”
With the Pac-10 trophy within reach, the Sun Devils sent freshman pitcher Dallas Escobedo to the circle in her 27th start of the season.
The No. 12 Cardinal (37-14, 9-10) countered with a talented pitcher of its own in sophomore Teagan Gerhart to set the stage for a classic pitcher’s duel.
Escobedo introduced herself in the first inning by striking out Cardinal leadoff hitter Sarah Hassman.
However, Stanford then collected two singles and a walk to load the bases.
That was as far as they would get that inning.
Escobedo struck out freshman right fielder Caitlyn Pura and junior left fielder Maya Burns to escape the threat unscathed.
In the bottom of the first, junior shortstop Katelyn Boyd came through once again for ASU by smacking a leadoff home run to left field.
Boyd’s home run was her fifth leadoff bomb off the season. She is now tied for first in the nation in leadoff home runs.
Stanford would threaten in several innings, but Escobedo managed to preserve the thin lead.
She would limit the Cardinal to a single run, but struggled with her command throughout the game, walking six batters.
“I don’t know what was really wrong with me,” Escobedo said. “My rise is going a little high. I had to focus in, and I wasn’t trying to strike anyone out. I was just trying to get outs.”
In the top of the fifth, Stanford finally broke through. Junior shortstop Ashley Hansen unloaded on her 8th home run of the season to push the score to 1-1.
It wouldn’t be tied for long as the Sun Devils immediately rallied in the bottom of the inning.
Boyd led things off with a walk, which was followed by a single from senior center fielder Lesley Rogers.
Senior catcher Kaylyn Castillo laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance both base runners into scoring position. One batter later, senior third baseman Krista Donnenwirth came through in the clutch with a two-RBI single to center.
Sacrifice bunts proved to be crucial for ASU throughout the game.
“We’ve been talking about this now all year long,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “We have really put an emphasis on the bunting. Tonight, we bunt the people over and Donnenwirth comes up.”
Escobedo would settle down and shut down the Cardinal offense the rest of the way. She retired nine straight Cardinal batters in the last three innings.
Armed with a two run lead, Escobedo looked to nail the win and Pac-10 championship in the top of the seventh.
The right-hander did just that by getting Hansen and sophomore second baseman Jenna Rich to fly out for the first two outs. Freshman designated player Michelle Prong then grounded out to Boyd at shortstop for the third and final out.
Escobedo’s clean seventh frame gave ASU its 12th straight win and the Pac-10 championship. She would allow just one run, three hits, while striking out six en route to her 26th win of the season.
The Sun Devils conclude the regular season with matchups against the Cardinal on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Freshman pitcher Mackenzie Popescue is slated to start in the circle for ASU on Friday.
While the Sun Devils have already claimed the Pac-10 championship, they are adamant on finishing the regular season on a strong note in the next two games.
“What I really want to do is finish this thing strong,” Myers said. “Because I want to have that type of momentum going into the postseason, and that’s what we talked about tonight.”
Reach the reporter at greg.dillard@asu.edu
