This article was originally published on April 14, 2023.
It was a heart breaker in Farrington on Friday night for Arizona State.
The Sun Devils (21-14) took on the No. 18 ranked Oregon Ducks (25-11) for the first game of a weekend series. A late offensive outburst by the Ducks gave them their first lead of the night and put pressure on ASU’s lineup. The team only managed four hits and a walk on offense, getting completely shut down by the Oregon pitching in a 5-2 loss.
It was all Sun Devils early on. In the second at bat of the game for ASU, graduate outfielder Yannira Acuña hit a solo home run to put them ahead 1-0.
With junior Mac Osborne cruising on the mound, it seemed that ASU would get its first Friday win since March 3 against New Mexico. Osborne led the Sun Devils into the sixth inning before Oregon got on the board.
A walk to sophomore left fielder Kai Luschar followed by a home run to left center by fifth year senior second baseman Allee Bunker put the Ducks in front 2-1. A bunt single by senior catcher Terra McGowan was the final straw and Osborne’s night was over.
“Honestly I thought Mac threw a beautiful game,” Bartlett said. “I mean that’s the 18th ranked team in the country and they can bang. So the fact that she kept them to two runs through really what, five and an out. I was really honestly pleased with her performance. The drop ball adversely right is a pretty good matchup for Mac. So we were gonna try to let Mac just ride as long as she could.”
Oregon’s starting pitcher, senior Morgan Scott dominated. After the Acuña home run, ten of the next fifteen batters she faced were retired. Scott’s only other blemish was a sac fly by graduate left fielder Makenna Harper that scored Acuna, making it 4-2 Ducks.
It wasn’t the best night for sophomore pitcher Kenzie Brown. Brown came in during the sixth inning, taking over for Osborne, and immediately gave up a two run home run to Oregon’s designated player junior Alyssa Daniell.
Brown, who leads the team in appearances, gave another run in the seventh when sophomore shortstop Paige Sinicki hit a mammoth home run straight to center field.
“Not Kenzie’s best night, right, that so rarely happens and lessons learned,” Bartlett said. “She’s thrown a lot of innings to this point so it will be time for I think the other pitchers right, to start to step up a little bit.”
Going forward, the Sun Devils’ approach and game plan on offense won’t change much. Bartlett said that all three of Oregon’s starters profile similarly. Bartlett said that the team chose some good pitches, but she needs to go watch the tape to help them make the small adjustments.
ASU will be back at Farrington for round two against the Ducks on Saturday at 5 p.m.
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