Disappointing.
It's the only word you can use to describe Sunday's game for ASU softball, a 4-2 loss to lowly Stanford on a walk-off home run in extra innings.
It's also a word you can use to describe the 2015 season for the No. 24 Sun Devils (32-19, 10-10 Pac-12), who have performed well below program standards and looked nothing like a two-time national champion all season.
Freshman Breanna Macha took the circle for the Sun Devils in game three, pitching all nine innings and allowing nine hits and four runs to the Cardinal (17-34, 2-19 Pac-12).
After three consecutive scoreless innings between the two clubs, ASU broke the offensive seal in the top of the fourth thanks to a solo home run to left by junior centerfielder Jennifer Soria.
The Sun Devils would add another run in the fifth, this time a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior second baseman Nikki Girard. ASU left two runners on base in the inning, but entered the sixth with a 2-0 advantage over the Cardinal.
Neither team would plate a run in the sixth inning, and Stanford stranded two Sun Devil runners on base in the top of the final frame to set up a comeback attempt, trailing 2-0. ASU left 18 runners on base in 12 hits in this game.
Donning their upside-down rally visors, Stanford stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh and refused to go down easily. Senior Erin Ashby crushed a solo shot to lead things off in the inning, bringing her team within a margin of 2-1.
An error by sophomore Chelsea Gonzales at shortstop allowed another run to score later in the seventh, tying the game at two runs apiece.
With runners at the corners and two outs, sophomore Bessie Noll popped out to left center to send the game to extra innings.
Neither team could manage a run in the eighth, and in the ninth the Cardinal would break free of the struggling Sun Devils thanks to a walk-off two-run home run by freshman Victoria Molina.
Macha's record fell to 15-10 with the loss on Sunday as she threw 116 total pitches.
ASU's final regular season series pits them against No. 7 UCLA, a home stand in Tempe that will conclude Pac-12 play and send the Sun Devils into the postseason.
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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