Facing the No. 23 Oregon State softball team is like facing a mirage.
The Beavers’ (26-10, 3-3 Pac-12) stats are awful. They’re last in the Pac-12 in batting average at .286 and are third to last in ERA with 2.81.
Yet they now sit in third place in the conference above perennial powers No. 4 Washington, No. 12 UCLA and No. 16 UA.
The No. 5 ASU softball team is coming off back-to-back home sweeps of the Bruins and the Wildcats sandwiched around a 1-1 road trip against No. 17 Oregon.
Senior shortstop Katelyn Boyd played a key role in the team’s three-game rout of UCLA, going 3-7 and scoring six of her conference-leading 51 runs. She says she wants to keep that momentum going when the team travels to Corvallis, Ore.
“We are going to have a day off tomorrow, which we need,” Boyd said. “Then we are going to come out Monday and have a good, crisp, short, efficient two-hour practice. Then (we’ll) head to Oregon State and keep our minds right.”
The Sun Devils’ defense was the highlight of the weekend against UCLA.
ASU committed just one error and made many difficult plays that wowed the sold-out crowd at Farrington Stadium.
A couple defensive changes have headlined the season thus far. Freshman Haley Steele has started to cement herself as the team’s third baseman, senior outfielder Annie Lockwood has moved into the infield and has been outstanding in her time at first base. Sophomore Bailey Wigness has played great at second base.
“We have made some shifts around,” coach Clint Myers said. “Everybody that is in the game is doing their part.”
One thing that anchors the defense is the performances of the Sun Devils’ pitching staff, which has the third best ERA in the conference.
Senior Hillary Bach (16-0, 1.14 ERA) squashed the UCLA hitters en route to her 82nd win, which puts her in second place in school history, and earned her Pac-12 Player of the Week honors. Bach is second in the conference in ERA.
“To be considered at such high standards is really impressive,” Bach said. “For me, right now, I just have to focus on every pitch and just making every pitch as good as it could be. We will worry about the record books later.”
Sophomore Dallas Escobedo (14-3, 2.34 ERA) has also pitched well. Escobedo is fifth in the conference in strikeouts with 131.
“You can’t argue about the pitching,” Myers said. “They are just doing outstanding with throwing strikes, making them hit good pitches, and with that defense, it is a great recipe (for success) right now.”
ASU has lost a game each time they travelled away from home this season. The Sun Devils look to buck that trend in their doubleheader Tuesday and Wednesday.
“It’s a softball game,” Myers said. “Whether it’s (at home) or on the road, we know exactly what we are supposed to do and we know exactly how we are supposed to get it done ... We aren’t changing anything.”
Reach the reporter at jjmckelv@asu.edu
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