Senior designated player Amber Freeman slides safely into home against Binghamton, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, at Farrington Softball Stadium in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Bearcats 22-5. (Ben Moffat/The State Press)
They say lightning doesn't strike twice, but they never said anything about it striking three times.
In its final home doubleheader of the season, No. 21 ASU softball (15-6) won two games in dominant fashion over Binghamton and Toledo, the second of which coming on the heels of a walk-off grand slam by junior outfielder Jennifer Soria.
This marked the third walk-off grand slam in as many weekends for the Sun Devils, who are gaining a reputation for having a clutch instinct with the bases loaded.
"The approach in those spots is to get a good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it and hit it hard," ASU head coach Craig Nicholson said. "In a lot of instances we're doing a pretty good job executing that."
Despite the clutch actions in the second game, the first matchup of the day for ASU was the Binghamton Bearcats (3-6), a team that freshman pitcher Breanna Macha held without a hit in eight innings the previous night.
ASU annihilated Binghamton 22-5 after five innings in a game that was over from the very beginning.
Starting in the circle in this game for ASU was freshman Dale Ryndak (7-2), who pitched two hitless innings before being relieved by junior Jenna Makis. Makis finished the final three innings and allowed five runs (two earned).
The first two innings initiated a dominant offensive display by the Sun Devils as they notched nine hits and 12 runs with every batter finding her way on base. It was quite the contrast to the game against Binghamton the night before, where ASU was the victor 1-0 in eight innings of play.
Binghamton got a run back in the third inning on an error by ASU, but still could not achieve a hit until two outs in the final inning, one where it scored four of its five total runs.
The Sun Devils ballooned the lead in the third and fourth innings, putting up ten additional runs despite subbing seven reserves into the lineup.
The final score marked the fifth time in the NCAA era that ASU has reached 20 runs, and 22 was the second most runs the team has ever scored.
"The nice thing for us is we have more than nine people that have had some success," Nicholson said. "We feel good about our lineup. We're a pretty good mix."
ASU takes care of Toledo
Softball-Toledo-Chelsea-Gonzales: Sophomore shortstop Chelsea Gonzales hits a home run in a game against Toledo on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, at Farrington Softball Stadium in Tempe. Gonzales' home run contributed to a in 11-2 victory over the Rockets. (Shiva Balasubramanian/The State Press)
Game two featured the Toledo Rockets (4-9) and ASU got the win by a count of 11-2 in six innings.
After her birthday no-hitter the night before, freshman pitcher Breanna Macha (7-3) stepped into the circle for the Sun Devils and pitched a complete game giving up six hits and two runs to go along with nine strikeouts.
Senior catcher Amber Freeman got things going on offense for ASU in the first inning with a 2-run home run to deep center field. From that point until the fifth inning however, the Sun Devil offense was stagnant.
The fifth inning provided the necessary offensive punch to put Toledo on the ropes. ASU acquired four runs in the inning, the majority of which coming off the bat of senior third baseman Haley Steele on a three-run shot to left field. The other came from an RBI single by senior outfielder Elizabeth Caporuscio earlier in the frame.
Toledo amassed just as many hits as ASU through five innings, but produced no runs until the sixth when an RBI double by junior Jessica Lemieux ignited an offensive burst for the Rockets.
Right after Lemieux, sophomore Celeste Fidge sent an RBI double to the very same spot, cutting the deficit to 6-2.
But sophomore shortstop Chelsea Gonzales would answer in the bottom of the frame, sending a solo home run in the same direction as Steele's, increasing the lead to 7-2 for ASU.
It finally came down to Soria in the bottom of the sixth as she stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to end the game on mercy rule.
She did just that, sending a grand slam soaring out of Farrington Stadium.
Soria described her feelings after hitting the walk-off.
"It felt really good especially since I've been struggling," Soria said. "I felt accomplished because I did the job that I needed to do."
Freeman sees a greater significance in the clutch actions of her teammates.
"I think that this team is great because there's always a different hero," Freeman said.
ASU's next game will be a rematch with No. 3 Michigan at 2 p.m. Sunday at Farrington Stadium.
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter
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