ASU didn't stop. Not down eight runs. Not down to its last out. Not against one of the best pitchers in the country.
Instead, the Sun Devils (34-20, 12-11 Pac-12) pulled off an improbable comeback against No. 6 UCLA (45-10, 19-5) behind a just-as-unlikely hero in junior Jennifer Soria, whose walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh won the game and series for the Sun Devils 11-10.
How do you do it, @jennsoria5! ASU overcomes its biggest deficit of the season on this jack, her second of the game! http://t.co/GQIPKFi4fQ
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) May 10, 2015
"We get down 9-1 going into the third and how easy is it to just fold your tent right there and just say, 'Hey we're not good enough tonight?'" ASU coach Craig Nicholson said. "We didn't do it. We battled."
Soria struggled at the plate all season, particularly early, but she ignited and finished ASU's rally. With ASU trailing 9-1 in the third, she led off with a home run, her fifth of the season. In the sixth, with UCLA trying to push the game out of reach, she took a potential home run away from the Bruins. All of it set up Soria's line drive walk-off in the seventh.
"I was calm," Soria said. "I knew there were two outs and the runners were on. They both did their job so I knew I had to get in there, stick to my plan and execute. I was trying to hit a line drive, get on base."
Video by Justin Janssen | Sports Reporter
"Jen's been a kid that's been through a lot this year," Nicholson said. "She wasn't a full-time starter for a while, struggled big-time early in the season offensively, got hurt and missed a few weeks there with the ankle (injury). She doesn't give up. She comes and puts her work in everyday and couldn't be more happy to see it pay off for her."
On the other side of the mound, ASU couldn't slow down UCLA's explosive offense all series. Until junior Alexis Cooper entered. Cooper had been long-forgotten in ASU's pitching lineup until Saturday, when the Sun Devils planned on resting their No. 1 starter for the postseason.
After freshman Dale Ryndak struggled (1.2 innings, four hits, nine earned runs), in came Cooper, who had only appeared in four Pac-12 games all season. If it weren't for Cooper's efforts, ASU wouldn't have had a shot to come back in the game.
Cooper (3-1) picked up her first decision of conference play, and allowed one earned run in 5.1 innings pitched.
"It was nice going because there wasn't any pressure going in with eight runs (down)," Cooper said. "You just need to go in there do a job and throw strikes. I just wanted to contribute to my team. It was nice to finally be able to do that."
ASU's rally began with Soria, but senior right fielder Sierra Rodriguez homered right after her to give the Sun Devils back-to-back shots in the third inning. After five consecutive hits for ASU in the inning, it chased UCLA's Johanna Grauer, a former ASU commit, from the game.
UCLA senior Ally Carda, a top-three 2014 USA Softball Player of the Year finalist, attempted to slow ASU's rally. But ASU manufactured three more runs in the inning, scoring off of two sacrifice flies and a wild pitch. Junior second baseman Nikki Girard homered in the fifth inning to pull the Sun Devils within a run. UCLA extended its lead to two runs on a home run in the sixth, its 12th of the series.
But the Sun Devils weren't done just yet. With two outs and a runner on, Girard walked, to bring up Soria, who on a 1-0 count, sent a season-high 2,059 fans at Farrington Stadium home with a victory.
ASU will find out where it will play in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 7 p.m.
Reach the reporter at jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow @jjanssen11 on Twitter
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