No. 13 ASU softball avenged Friday’s loss to Stanford with back-to-back wins at home Saturday afternoon.
Game One
ASU defeated Stanford in a 10-6 slugfest in game one of the doubleheader.
In the first inning freshman designated player Aly Kaneshiro put the Cardinal on the board with a three-run home run to centerfield. In the bottom of the first, ASU fifth year catcher Maddi Hackbarth immediately responded with a two-run home run to centerfield of her own.
Then, in the second inning Sun Devil sophomore right fielder Jazmine Hill tied the game up with an RBI double.
Kaneshiro added on to her hot start from the plate with her second home run of the game in the top of the fourth inning.
The Sun Devils then scored seven runs in their last two at-bats. Sophomore shortstop Alynah Torres and junior designated player Yannira Acuña hit back-to-back home runs and senior third baseman Bella Loomis knocked in ASU’s final run of the game on an RBI single, all coming in the sixth.
Although Torres was glad she could "contribute to the team" she emphasized that getting the victory is "all that really matters at the end of the day."
Kaneshiro knocked in another two more runs in the seventh inning, but, after that, sophomore pitcher Lindsay Lopez recorded the final two outs to secure the victory for ASU.
Game Two
The Sun Devils defeated Stanford 5-4 in dramatic fashion in the second game of the doubleheader.
Stanford got on the board first as graduate student catcher Montana Dixon doubled in Kaneshiro in the top of the second inning.
Maddi Hackbarth gave ASU the lead with a two-run RBI double in the bottom of the third, but Dixon immediately tied the game up in the top of the fourth with a solo home run to centerfield.
ASU fifth year starting pitcher Cielo Meza was then immediately replaced by freshman pitcher Allison Royalty. Meza exited the game after giving up two runs in 3.2 innings.
In the top of the fifth inning graduate student second baseman Eleni Spirakis hit a two-run home run to put the Cardinal up two. After that, ASU put up one run in the fifth and junior left fielder Makenna Harper hit a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth to force extra innings.
Then, in the bottom of the seventh inning, Hill hit a walk-off home run to left-centerfield.
"It was a lot of excitement," Hill said. "Definitely a big relief just knowing that we didn't have to go into more innings."
ASU head coach Trisha Ford was impressed by how her team "answered back today" after yesterday's loss.
"(Hill) and Alynah (Torres) are the future of our program," Ford said. "Kindra (Hackbarth) didn't have her best day and we had other people step up and get us a team win. That's really what was great."
The Sun Devils and Cardinals will meet once more on Sunday at noon for the final game of the series at Farrington Stadium.
Reach the reporter at cfahrend@asu.edu and follow @chris_drop_ on Twitter.
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