Junior outfielder Alix Johnson runs through the bag in a game against North Dakota on March 1. Johnson's home run in the first inning helped ASU to a 10-2 win over Cal on April 26. (Photo by Dominic Valente)Following a series loss to unranked Utah, the No. 5 ASU softball team needed a performance like this.
Behind six home runs, ASU (40-7, 11-5 Pac-12) slugged its way to a 10-2 win over No. 10 Cal Friday to begin a crucial home series.
“We wanted to prove what a great team we are by coming out being explosive at the plate, showing what Arizona State softball really is,” senior second baseman Sam Parlich said.
ASU caught the Golden Bears (35-10, 9-7 Pac-12) at exactly the right time. Cal senior pitcher Jolene Henderson will not be able to pitch in the series, according to The Daily Californian.
Henderson’s backups don’t have the pedigree or experience that she does, and ASU punished them for 10 runs on 11 hits in five innings.
Junior outfielder Alix Johnson and junior shortstop Cheyenne Coyle led off ASU’s first inning with back-to-back home runs. Sophomore catcher Amber Freeman nearly made it three consecutive home runs, but her line drive hit the top of the wall.
Later in the inning, Parlich hit a grand slam, knocking Cal freshman pitcher Nisa Ontiveros out of the game. Ontiveros allowed six runs, five earned, in 0.1 innings pitched.
Ontiveros gave up three home runs and so did her replacement, sophomore pitcher Nikki Owens.
Freeman homered in the second inning, and sophomore first baseman Bethany Kemp put ASU ahead by nine runs with a two-run shot of her own in the fourth inning.
Cal kept the game alive in the fifth with a two-run home run from sophomore shortstop Cheyenne Cordes. However, ASU mercy-ruled Cal when Coyle hit a solo home run in the bottom of the inning. It was the Sun Devils' third mercy-rule win of the season.
That was Coyle’s second home run of the game and her team-leading 17th of the season.
Myers and Coyle credited the home runs in Friday’s game to line drive swings.
The home run balls came off the bat at a 45 degree angle, while the flyouts came off the bat at around 70 degrees, he said.
The six home runs for ASU was a season high. For Cal, the loss marked the first time they lost in run-rule fashion this season.
“There was no big motivational speeches,” Myers said. “We know what we have to do.”
Reach the reporter at justin.janssen@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @JJanssen11
