After sweeping Friday's doubleheader, No. 22 ASU softball split Saturday night's doubleheader, losing against Western Michigan and winning in comeback fashion against Northwestern.
Senior center fielder Kindra Hackbarth totaled five RBIs, including the two-run walk-off home run against Northwestern, helping the Sun Devils (3-1) escape with one win on the day.
Western Michigan
ASU dropped the first game of its doubleheader against Western Michigan after failing to comeback from a five run deficit, ultimately losing 9-7.
Senior pitcher Samantha Mejia took the circle for the Sun Devils and started off strong. However, she ran into trouble in the second inning after walking the lead-off batter and allowing a sacrifice bunt.
The next batter hit the ball to junior third baseman Kiara Kennedy, but she made a throwing error, scoring the first run for the Broncos.
Defense continued to be an issue when two batters later, freshman shortstop Alynah Torres made another error to extend the inning.
The Broncos made the Sun Devils pay, as WSU senior outfielder Mackenzie Swinehart roped a two-RBI triple to right field, putting Western Michigan ahead 3-0 while only recording one hit.
The Sun Devils responded immediately with a lead-off home run courtesy of junior first baseman DeNae Chatman.
After a single and a walk, freshman right fielder Jazmine Hill rocketed a ball to the left center gap to bring home another run.
The scoring for the inning was completed by Kindra Hackbarth with a two-RBI double giving the Sun Devils a 4-3 lead.
The Broncos offense came alive in the middle innings, scoring three more runs off of Mejia with a home run from junior infielder Sydney Stefanick in the third as well as an RBI double from Stefanick in the fourth followed by an RBI single from junior outfielder Samantha Coffel.
Freshman pitcher Lindsay Lopez made her collegiate pitching debut and gave up three runs in 1.2 innings.
The Sun Devils found themselves down 9-4 in the bottom of the sixth and in position to try and mount a comeback similar to their six-run sixth inning just a night ago against Kansas.
The bases were loaded with one out for the Sun Devils when Kindra Hackbarth hit an RBI single. Junior infielder Bella Loomis batted in another run by forcing an error.
A sacrifice fly from senior catcher Maddi Hackbarth cut the lead down to 9-7, but that was as close as the Sun Devils came to the lead.
Junior pitcher Madison Preston, who recently transferred from Alabama, pitched the final two scoreless innings giving up only one hit.
The hopes of a comeback were dashed quickly after the Sun Devils went down in order in the seventh, ending the first half of the doubleheader.
Northwestern
In the night cap, Arizona State came back to score two runs with one out in the bottom of the seventh to defeat No. 14 Northwestern 6-5.
Senior pitcher Cielo Meza stepped foot in the circle and the very first pitch of the game was hit over the left field fence for a solo home run by junior second baseman Rachel Lewis.
The Wildcats scored another run in the top-half of the second inning before the Sun Devils answered in the bottom half with back-to-back home runs from Torres and Kennedy, knotting the game at two runs apiece.
The slugfest continued, as the Wildcats doubled their score with a two-run blast from senior utility player Morgan Newport.
Meza finished her night with a scoreless fourth inning, with the Sun Devils later scoring in the bottom half with a RBI fielder's choice from Torres.
Preston came in for her second appearance of the day and continued where she left off, throwing a scoreless fifth.
"Pres she has come really, really far," ASU head coach Trisha Ford said. "She is comfortable in her skin and her and I have really clicked. She has come into really stressful situations and made big pitches. I'm just proud of her and want her to continue."
The Sun Devils continued on the comeback trail, scoring the tying run with one out in the fifth from an RBI triple down the first base line from Loomis.
Preston gave up her first earned run as a Sun Devil to an RBI single that put the Wildcats up once again 5-4. Just like the first game of the doubleheader, the Sun Devils went into the final innings trailing.
In the bottom of the seventh, sophomore outfielder Yannira Acuña hit a single to bring the winning run in Kindra Hackbarth to the plate.
Hackbarth crushed an inside pitch over the center field wall for a walk-off home run giving the Sun Devils the 6-5 victory.
"We are going to have a chip on our shoulder for a long time," Kindra Hackbarth said. "We huddled up as a team and was like Northwestern hosted regionals last year, lets show them who should host this year."
ASU looks to pick up where they left off Saturday night against Seattle on Feb. 9 at 2 p.m MST in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at kbdyer2@asu.edu and follow @TheKamDyer on Twitter.
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