Senior third baseman Haley Steele hits a home run during the opening inning of ASU's game against Cal State Northridge February 8, 2015 at Farrington Stadium in Tempe. ASU lost 8-6. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)Another Sunday, another walk-off grand slam for No. 19 ASU softball (12-5).
After ASU seemingly gave the game away by allowing three runs after it held a 7-4 lead in the top of the seventh, senior Haley Steele (2-for-5, 4 RBIs, home run) came to the rescue, giving the Sun Devils an 11-7 victory.
Steele's walk-off grand slam was set up by an interesting strategy from New Mexico State.
After junior Jennifer Soria doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh, the Aggies decided to intentionally walk seniors Sierra Rodriguez and Elizabeth Caporuscio, bringing up Steele—arguably the team's second-best power hitter.
Head coach Craig Nicholson was a bit baffled by the decision to load the bases for Steele.
"I thought Haley at worst there was going to hit a fly ball and score the winning run," he said. "She had some good swings in the game and I just felt like she was going to get the job done."
Steele's walk-off was the end to a game of many momentum shifts, which Craig Nicholson said were to be expected.
"We knew there were some innings on the arms and when we got down early, we didn't panic—we just stayed with our game plan."
In the second inning, New Mexico State starting pitcher Dallas McBride (1-4) contributed on the offensive end with an RBI triple to tie the game. Two batters later, she scored on a fielder's choice to make it 2-1 Aggies.
After blanking ASU in the bottom half, the Aggies continued the hot stretch with two more runs in the third.
Freshman Rachel Rodriguez scored on senior Staci Rodriguez's sacrifice fly. The next batter, freshman Corrin Green, hit a solo shot to center, effectively ending Macha's day in the circle.
ASU's other notable freshman pitcher, Dale Ryndak (6-1), took over for Macha, who gave up four runs on six hits in four innings of work.
After trailing 4-1 to that point, the Sun Devils gained momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning.
"We tried to stay calm and didn't panic, and I thought our hitters did a much better job the second time through the order," Nicholson said. "We knew coming in that they are a good hitting team and it's a Sunday, so it was probably going to be pretty high-scoring.
Junior Abby Spiel had an RBI single to center and advanced to second base on the throw home, providing the spark ASU's offense needed to get back on its feet.
With runners on second and third, Sierra Rodriguez hit a two-run double down the right field line, tying the game at four.
After another clean inning by Ryndak, ASU picked up where it left off when Freeman took McBride to deep center field, giving the Sun Devils their second lead of the game.
In the same inning, Gonzales doubled, Kemp walked and Soria singled to load the bases. Continuing her solid patience at the plate, Rodriguez took her third walk of the game, which scored Gonzales and made it 6-4 ASU.
In addition, Gonzales put the stamp on the victory with her second home run of the year, a solo shot to right center.
Or so it looked.
In the top of the seventh, Green (2-for-3, 3 RBIs, home run) added to her stellar day with a two-run double to cut ASU's lead to one. Then, McBride's deep shot to left, which could have been a three-run home run, instead ended as a sacrifice fly that tied the game.
Nicholson said Ryndak's shaky performance in the seventh inning could have been because of fatigue—she pitched in four out of five games during the weekend.
"Dale wasn't nearly as sharp as she was against Minnesota last night, but she kind of gutted it out," Nicholson said. "We didn't help her out much, though—we can't make errors in the last inning and open the door for people."
However, Steele's walk-off grand slam, ASU's second in as many weekends, sent the Sun Devils home with a 4-1 record in the Diamond Devil Invitational.
Freeman dubbed Sundays "walk-off Sundays" for ASU softball.
"We don't ever freak and out and we know that we can back up our pitchers," she said. "We tried to stay calm, take it one pitch at a time, and slow the game down."
Nicholson said he was pleased with his team's overall performance throughout the weekend, noting its improvement in taking advantage of opportunities.
"We had a good weekend and even in the loss, I thought we played pretty well," he said. "I thought we missed some opportunities earlier in the weekend, but today, we had some good at-bats and took advantage."
Among the opponents ASU plays next weekend is the Michigan Wolverines, who have become a bit of a rival after knocking the Sun Devils out of the postseason the past two years.
"We need to continue to get better and worry about ourselves," Nicholson said. "We need to keep trying to get where we need to be as a ball club and although we're getting closer, we're not there yet."
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3.
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