No. 13 ASU softball swept the second day of the ASU/GCU Tournament with a run-rule win over Portland State, followed by a win over No. 25 Iowa State.
Portland State
The first game of the day was an 8-0 run-rule for the Sun Devils, with sophomore Lindsay Lopez earning her fourth start of the season, her second in two days. Lopez pitched five scoreless innings and recorded five strikeouts.
"I told Lindsay, 'Everyone wants to beat you, you're going to get everyone's best,' and I think Lindsay did a great job," coach Trisha Ford said. "The first inning she did well, but she got better as the game went (on), and started to use her off-speed (pitches)."
ASU began its scoring in the first inning with an RBI single from fifth-year senior catcher Maddi Hackbarth, driving in sophomore outfielder Jazmine Hill.
Redshirt junior second baseman Brittany Holland started a two-run second inning for the Sun Devils with her first home run with the team. Hill later drove in fifth-year senior center fielder Kindra Hackbarth with a single to give ASU its third run.
ASU scored three more runs in the third with a three-RBI single from senior infielder Bella Loomis.
Sophomore shortstop Alynah Torres and senior designated player Allison Tatnall hit back-to-back home runs of their own in the fourth, and an RBI double from junior outfielder Yannira Acuña later in the inning gave the Sun Devils their final run of the game and put them up 8-0.
Iowa State
ASU notched 16 hits in its win against Iowa State, the most in a single game for the team since March 1, 2019.
Fifth-year pitcher Cielo Meza returned to the circle for the Sun Devils and earned her 550th career strikeout.
"It's pretty cool to see," Meza said. "It's awesome to be a part of, especially finishing here at ASU, I think that's amazing."
The first two scores of the game came in the first inning from a single by Maddi Hackbarth, with Kindra Hackbarth and Hill scoring on the play.
The Sun Devils would produce another set of consecutive home runs in the third inning, as Maddi Hackbarth hit a home run to lead off the inning, and Torres followed up three pitches later with one of her own.
"She's a great hitter," Maddi Hackbarth said of Torres. "She had an open mind coming in, learned a lot from me, asked me a bunch of questions as a freshman and continues to do that right now. I think that's why she's so successful."
Iowa State quickly responded with its own home run in the fourth inning, but ASU increased its lead in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI double from Hill and an RBI single from Maddi Hackbarth.
ASU scored two more runs in the fifth inning, the first coming from an RBI single from senior second baseman Halle Harger and another from an RBI single by Hill.
The final run of the day was a two-run home run by senior Sami Williams, her second of the day for the Cyclones, but it was too little, too late, as the Sun Devils captured an 8-3 win.
ASU will next face the University of New Mexico on Sunday in its last game of the ASU/GCU Tournament at 11 a.m. MST in Tempe.
Reach the reporter at drodish@asu.edu and follow @david_rodish on Twitter.
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