Junior catcher Lucy Aubrecht isn’t the sleekest Sun Devil on foot.
Yet her hustling double to lead off the seventh inning sparked a rally that junior shortstop Cheyenne Coyle capped off with a walk-off grand slam.
Coyle’s home run with one out in the seventh inning gave No. 2 ASU a 5-1 win over No. 23 Oregon State.
“I could beat Lucy in a race,” ASU coach Clint Myers said. “I’m 61 with a bad knee. When Lucy drops her head, there’s nothing but a brick wall that’s going to stop her.”
Aubrecht laced a ball into left-center field to begin the seventh. Right out of the box, she was thinking two, and made it to second base just in time.
“She’s clearly one of the heroes tonight,” Myers said.
The next batter, second baseman Sam Parlich, hit a chopper over the third baseman’s head, who was guarding a bunt. Later in the inning with the bases-loaded, Coyle hit a no-doubter into right-center field, giving ASU (33-3, 4-1 Pac-12) the victory in front of a sellout crowd of 2,142 people.
“It was pretty crazy,” junior pitcher Mackenzie Popescue said. “A couple people fell trying to get out of the dugout. That’s what we live for. Those are the moments that make us realize all of our hard work and hours on the field pay off.”
Coyle was also amazed by the moment after the grand slam.
“They were pretty pumped,” Coyle said. “They were hitting me on the head.”
Popescue was brilliant on the mound, allowing two hits in seven innings, and only an unearned run allowed. Even the two hits she allowed were cheapies. One came on a misplayed bunt, and another on a seeing-eye single between first and second base.
“As a competitor I’m never satisfied,” Popescue said. "I am very happy with how I performed. My girls played great behind me. A couple little squirmy hits, but I’m very happy with what happened.
ASU coach Clint Myers was extremely impressed with his No. 2 starter.
“She was magnificent tonight,” Myers said. “One of the best games I’ve seen Mack throw if not the best in terms of total command. … You realize they didn’t leave a runner on? How many times do you see that?”
One of the more interesting coaching decisions came in the seventh inning when Myers pinch-hit sophomore first baseman Bethany Kemp for junior outfielder Bailey Wigness in the middle of the at-bat.
At that point, ASU was relieved Oregon State starting senior pitcher Tina Andreana was out of the game. She allowed just three hits (two in the infield) but appeared to have hurt her off-hand.
Thursday’s starter, senior Marina Demore, eventually took the mound for the Beavers (23-8, 0-2 Pac-12) in the seventh inning with Wigness at the plate. After two consecutive balls, Kemp entered the game, and she walked.
“That was dumb, wasn’t it?” Myers said. “You got a girl that had two hits yesterday off the girl that they brought in. Beth had a lot of confidence, it was a good situation, she’s hitting in a good count. I’ll roll the dice with that. I’ve done it with two balls, and I’ve done it with two strikes.”
Reach the reporter at Justin.Janssen@asu.edu
