No. 13 ASU softball defeated New Mexico 11-3 in the last game of the ASU/GCU Tournament early Sunday afternoon.
ASU's top of the batting order got off to a hot start and put up three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Fifth year designated player Maddi Hackbarth doubled in fifth year centerfielder Kindra Hackbarth for the first run of the game and sophomore shortstop Alynah Torres followed that up with a two-run home run.
Junior left fielder Yannira Acuña injured herself going for a foul ball in the second inning. Acuña was taken to a hospital by paramedics. ASU head coach Trisha Ford did not reveal what type of injury Acuña sustained.
"(Acuña) is doing well. She was watching our game in the hospital," Ford said. "She's in good spirits, not feeling nauseous anymore. She's in good hands."
Later in the second inning, New Mexico responded to ASU's first-inning runs. After two Lobos players reached base with a double and a walk, senior shortstop Cameryn O'Grady hit a three-run home run to centerfield to tie the game.
Sophomore pitcher Lindsay Lopez then relieved freshman pitcher Allison Royalty and got out of the second inning without allowing any more runs. Ford said "today was just one of those days where things didn't fall into place" for Royalty.
"Allison really hadn't thrown a whole lot this weekend and we're going to use a staff," Ford said. "She's young and she's a competitor. We're going to have a conversation and concentrate on things we need to improve on and then go from there."
In the fourth inning, the Sun Devil offense exploded for four runs. Redshirt junior third baseman Brittany Holland and Kindra Hackbarth both singled in runs, Holland scored on a fielder's choice and senior second baseman Halle Harger stole home.
"It's very important to jump on other pitchers early and save our pitching staff," Kindra Hackbarth said. "I feel like just getting ahead and scoring runs to be able to run-rule helps us and benefits our pitchers at the same time."
Torres added her second home run of the day on a solo shot to right field to start off the bottom of the fifth inning.
"I was honestly just trying to stay as simple as possible," Torres said. "Something hard up the middle is always something I try to work on, and I just ran into two. My approach is just sitting in and getting inside the ball."
Back-to-back RBI singles from Harger and Kindra Hackbarth furthered ASU's lead to seven and, in the bottom of the sixth inning, senior first baseman DeNae Chatman ended the game with a walk-off home run to centerfield to give the Sun Devils a run-rule victory.
"This weekend our team overall did really good. That OU game really hyped us up and I feel like after that we were on a roll," Torres said. "Ending the weekend off with a dub is what we always want and hitting two home runs in a game always makes you feel good."
ASU is set to play Utah on Monday in Tempe at 5 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at cfahrend@asu.edu and follow @chris_drop_ on Twitter.
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