ASU softball's offense awoke this weekend, combining for 28 runs in a three-game sweep of the Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-16) in Tempe.
Coming off a tough Judi Garman Classic tournament in which they finished 3-2, the sweep marked ASU's final series before entering Pac-12 play next week.
"Pitching is going to have to be huge, I think they have a pop in their bat," head coach Trisha Ford said of the team's upcoming opponents.
But pitching came through for Ford this weekend, as ASU's staff allowed just two Cornhuskers to cross the plate in the series.
Us. Nebraska. Farrington Stadium. 7pm. Be There. #ignitethefight pic.twitter.com/ivdoFZelzZ
— Taylor Becerra (@TaylorBecerra) March 10, 2017
Game One: Grand Slam from Sashel Palacios ignites 12-1 Win
Coming into the weekend, Ford was confident that senior catcher Sashel Palacios would soon find her offensive mojo.
"She's really, really close and I think she feels it too," Ford said after Wednesday night's win against the Maine Black Bears.
She was not wrong.
In her first at-bat Friday night, Palacios drove a pitch over the right-field wall for a grand slam, quickly putting ASU up 4-0.
Sophomore Ulufa Leilua would then drive in redshirt junior Marisa Stankiewicz, who had doubled.
From then on, it was all Sun Devils.
ASU would tack on two runs from fielding miscues by Nebraska, and the game would break right open after that.
It was Leilua who smashed a three-run home run to center field, bumping the Sun Devil lead to 12-0.
Junior pitcher Breanna Macha (7-3) picked up the win through four innings, with three strikeouts and one earned run off three hits.
Nebraska's lone run in the third inning would not be even close to enough as the game came to an end after five innings due to mercy rule.
Game Two: Ten-run second inning powers Sun Devils past the Cornhuskers
In game two, the ASU offense would once again fuel the Sun Devils to a win, this time doing all of its damage in one inning.
Nebraska looked like they might have control of the game as they struck first with a home run off of the bat of senior infielder MJ Knighten to give them a quick 1-0 lead.
However, the Sun Devil offense refused to take an off day. ASU scored ten runs in the second inning, and that's all it would need for a 10-1 win.
"Our offense is starting to find a little rhythm and some beat," Ford said. "From a pitching standpoint, it's nice to know that if we make a mistake, we're going to get some run support. It's great for both sides, our hitters to feel comfortable in the box, come out swinging, and for our pitchers to see that giving up runs early, we bounce right back."
Leilua got the Sun Devils on the board first with a three-run home run to right center, homering in her second straight game.
The offense was just getting started.
Farricker and Palacios doubled in two runs a piece, and Gonzales joined the three in their hot streaks with an RBI single.
The Cornhuskers defense gifted the Sun Devils with two more runs, totaling the lead to 10-1, where it would stay.
That lead would be enough for freshman pitcher Giselle Juarez (3-2), who cruised through three innings, allowing just one hit and one run with two strikeouts.
Infielder Chelsea Gonzales grabs 5 RBI as Sun Devils sweep Nebraska
ASU finished off the the three-game sweep on Sunday thanks to a big effort at the plate from senior infielder Chelsea Gonzales.
A three-run homer demolished by Gonzales in the first inning was a perfect representation of how the series went.
"Our approach this week was to be aggressive," Gonzales said. "I definitely worked with coach Roman (Foore) and coach (Trisha) Ford on just being aggressive on my at-bats and getting good pitches, and just having fun out there."
She continued her early dominance with two additional RBI in the second inning with a single to left field.
In eight at-bats in the series, Gonzales drove seven runs home, batting .625 in the process.
"Gonzo right now is having a year and she has been hot, our leader, her and (sophomore) Taylor Becerra have been pretty consistent in the box," Ford said.
Becerra brought the last run for ASU home in the third inning with an RBI single.
After closing the first two games, junior pitcher Dale Ryndak pitched a shutout through six innings on Sunday. She allowed just two hits while striking out two.
"I didn't really think about coming in and throwing a lot of innings, I just threw one inning at a time, do my homework every inning, looking at scouting reports. I take it really slow," Ryndak said. "I don't think about the seventh inning in the first inning."
Macha entered the game in the fifth for relief, and sent the Cornhuskers down in order.
The Sun Devils (18-5) will now prepare for their first series in conference play as they travel to Washington for their face-off with the Washington Huskies.
"(This weekend) definitely boosted our confidence, we've worked so hard in practices every day, coming out here and seeing what we can do against a great team gives us a lot of confidence going into Pac-12, and we're really excited to travel this weekend," Gonzales said.
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