ASU softball picked up another pair of wins for the third straight day on Saturday at the 2017 Kajikawa Classic in Tempe – defeating Indiana and Texas-Arlington to increase their season-opening win streak to six.
ASU overcomes slow start to down Indiana
Junior pitcher Dale Ryndak's first start was perfect – 15 up, 15 down.
Her second start didn't necessarily pick up where she had left off, and by the time she retired six of the visiting Indiana Hoosiers, she had allowed three to reach base and one to cross the plate on a deep sacrifice fly.
Luckily for ASU, the bats didn't take long to come alive and Ryndak held serve the rest of the way as the Sun Devils overcame a slow start to defeat Indiana by a final of 4-2.
"We're getting on a good roll. Just one game at a time," head coach Trisha Ford said. "We took care of the business we were supposed to take care of today and then tomorrow we've got to come out and beat Riverside."
Both teams opened their scoring in the second inning with some small ball, as ASU (6-0) redshirt junior infielder Marisa Stankiewicz scored with two outs on an errant throw by Hoosiers (1-3) senior second baseman Erin Lehman.
The small ball, however, didn't last long. Senior shortstop and cleanup hitter Chelsea Gonzales crushed a three-run homer over the wall in left field to take a commanding 4-1 lead in the third.
"Honestly, I was just trying to get a good pitch, first good pitch actually," Gonzales said. "It felt great coming off the bat, it felt good to just get ahead and give the runs to my team because our pitching was doing really good, Dale was doing really good. It felt really good."
Following the home run, Indiana's sophomore pitcher Tara Trainer was replaced by Emily Goodin in the circle, after she had walked the previous two runners on a combined nine pitches to set up Gonzales' rocket.
Goodin allowed two more baserunners following the home run, but worked her way out of the jam to keep the third-inning damage manageable.
As for the pitching on ASU's side, Ryndak (2-0, 0.60 ERA) relaxed after the first few innings to regain command. She went for a complete game, during which she struck out five batters and had zero walks, while allowing five hits and two earned runs.
Ryndak is part of a two-headed pitching monster alongside Breanna Macha – who started the latter game Saturday. Together, they have combined to shut down four opponents over the last three days.
With that home run, Gonzales moves into 14th place in career home runs for ASU! She trails 13th-ranked Cheyenne Coyle by just one HR.
— Sun Devil Softball (@ASUSoftball) February 11, 2017
"(Ryndak) is human," Ford said with a laugh. "Both Dale and Macha, I'm telling you guys, they're the real deal. They're going to battle and they're going to get us in a lot of games."
After letting the first two Indiana batters in the seventh on base, Ryndak worked her way out of the jam to seal the victory for the Sun Devils.
Sun Devils gain momentum early and run away from Texas-Arlington
When junior pitcher Breanna Macha loaded the bases without recording an out in the first inning against Texas-Arlington, things looked bleak for ASU.
An unassisted double play by Stankiewicz and a strikeout later, the inning was over with no damage, and the Sun Devils were in business.
From there, ASU rode a big offensive first inning and with a solid performance by Macha won 8-0 over Texas-Arlington to stay perfect through six games in the Kajikawa Classic.
"(I felt) really good," Macha said in reference to working out of the early jam. "I owe this game definitely to the defense, they backed me up the whole game. I just think having my team behind my back from the beginning, that sets the tone for the rest of the game."
Gonzales struck early once again, driving in her fourth RBI of the doubleheader with a line drive into center field that bounced off the wall and gave the Sun Devils (6-0) a 1-0 first-inning lead. Sophomore outfielder Ulufa Leilua kept the two-out rally alive with a two-run double into right center that pushed ASU's lead to 3-0 by the end of the first frame.
"We talked about this yesterday, it's a game of momentum and who can keep the game on whatever side the most and who can make adjustments," Ford said.
After her tough first inning, Macha (2-0, 0.60 ERA) took over. She struck out four batters while allowing seven hits in a complete-game shutout.
ASU gave Macha more run support in the second, after capitalizing on a bases-loaded, no-out situation to push two more runs across – going up 5-0. The Sun Devils' second-inning runs were knocked in on sacrifice flies by senior catcher Sashel Palacios and Gonzales.
Three runs in the sixth inning closed things out mercy-rule fashion, as Gonzales delivered the "walk-off" RBI, capping off her explosive day at six combined RBIs.
"Senior shortstop, she's been here and done that," Ford said. "She's been to this dance."
ASU closes out its weekend in the Kajikawa Classic looking to stay perfect when it hosts UC Riverside Sunday at 11:45 a.m. at Farrington Stadium.
Reach the reporter at jeff.griffith21@asu.edu or follow @Jeff_Griffith21 on Twitter.
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