Since ASU coach Clint Myers took the reigns of the ASU softball team in 2006, it’s been expected that his team reach and succeed at the Women’s College World Series each season.
His teams have reached the big dance in Oklahoma City in five of the past six seasons.
The lone year the Sun Devils (57-6, 7-0 postseason) did not reach the WCWS was 2010, when they suffered two crushing losses to Florida in the Super Regional.
In 2011, the Sun Devils are back in Oklahoma City and faced a familiar foe in game two of the series: the Gators.
One year after that excruciating Super Regional, ASU got its revenge by stunning the Gators (53-11) in a 6-5-comeback victory.
“It was exciting,” Myers said. “There were opportunities for both sides. It was a thrilling game. It was a thrilling win.”
It was typical Sun Devil softball in the first several innings. Freshman pitcher Dallas Escobedo was firing on all cylinders in the circle early on. She was opposed by UF senior Stephanie Brombacher.
Escobedo struck out the side in each of the first two innings. Through her first complete time through the order, seven of her outs came via the strikeout.
The ASU bats immediately put pressure on Brombacher. In the first, junior right fielder Annie Lockwood knocked home senior centerfielder Lesley Rogers on an RBI single to center.
Freshman designated player Alix Johnson’s bunt single got the ball rolling in the second frame. Junior left fielder Talor Haro followed with another bunt, but the ball was rifled past second base and into centerfield on the Gator error. The fielding mishap allowed Johnson to score from first.
Junior shortstop Katelyn Boyd kept the scoring going by rocketing an RBI single to CF. ASU suddenly held a 3-0 lead, enough to knock Brombacher out of the game.
UF coach Tim Walton then called on freshman Hannah Rogers to take over on the rubber.
Meanwhile, things got dicey for Escobedo in the third inning. Junior centerfielder Michelle Moultrie singled for UF’s first hit of the game, which was followed by a Kelsey Bruder walk. With two outs and two on, sophomore right fielder Brittany Schutte launched a long, high fly ball to left field that was hauled in at the wall by Haro.
Escobedo wasn’t as fortunate in the following inning as senior catcher Tiffany DeFelice crushed a two run homer to left that easily cleared the outfield wall.
That wasn’t all for the Gators. UF junior centerfielder Michelle Moultrie unloaded on a two run home run of her own to suddenly knot the score at 4-4. Three batter’s later, Schutte smacked an RBI single to inch UF ahead 5-4.
“I definitely was upset and tense and just so many different emotions,” Escobedo said. “But my team – Mandy (Urfer) and Krista (Donnenwirth) and (Katelyn) Boyd – like they all knew we’ve been scoring off this girl the whole game so they knew that we’re obviously not done. Just knowing that they had that confidence in me to just get the out and go in there and we’ll score, that got me through to get the last out.”
The Gator lead was short-lived.. In the bottom of fourth, Lockwood soared a solo blast into the right field bleachers to force yet another tie.
“I think I honestly went up there with an idea to just get a base hit,” Lockwood said. “Because I know 1 through 9, our team can do anything. Our No. 9 hitter can hit a home run. So I was honestly going up there to get a base hit to start some kind of rally and then I hit a home run.”
After several quiet innings offensively, the Sun Devils rallied in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch hitter Lucy Aubrecht walked before Boyd singled down the right field line. Rogers then grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop, but Haro was gunned out at the plate.
Senior catcher Kaylyn Castillo then walked to load the bases. Lockwood came through for her team once again. On a 2-2 pitch, Lockwood laced a single past third to seal the walk-off win.
“The last at-bat, I honestly just wanted to get a hit,” Lockwood said. “There was a runner on third base and we need one hit and there’s two outs, so you just put it in play and good things usually happen when you do that.”
The Sun Devils will have Saturday off, and then return to Hall of Fame Stadium on Sunday in need of just one win to advance to the championship series.
Reach the reporter at gjdillar@asu.edu
