Arizona State Softball had an eventful second day of its first in-season tournament, splitting the two games on day two of the annual Kajikawa Classic.
The Sun Devils’ first of two matchups at Farrington Stadium was one to forget as they came up just short against Boise State 6-4. Game two resulted in an emphatic 9-1 win against a spark-less Maine team after only four and a half innings.
The first fixture saw the hosts jump out to an electric 4-0 first-inning lead with hot swings of the bat. Doubles from a pair of seniors, infielder Kayla Lissy and catcher Sarah Kinch, and graduate student outfielder Kelsey Hall drove in a run after run with no solution in sight for Boise State.
The impressive start had the home fans excited before they were quickly silenced for the remainder of the game.
The Broncos fought back valiantly to tie the game by the top of the third and eventually notched up six runs total to take the win.
Utility player, Hollie Farmer, drove in the leading run via an RBI double at the top of the fourth to make it 5-4. However, the exclamation point on the visitor’s evening didn’t come until the seventh inning when infielder Sydney Groves hit a deep solo home run to cap off Boise State’s comeback night.
When asked about the importance of early season tournaments, Arizona State assistant coach Hailey Decker explained that the team’s focus is still on trying to mesh together, having added a lot of new pieces.
“We have a lot of new kids, we have some transfers in here and we’ve dealt with some different types of injuries, so we’re just trying to use preseason as a way to see where people fit best and where to build,” she said.
The remade roster has a long way to go, but the coaching staff knows the task ahead of it.
“Us as a staff aren’t just trying to coach for the year, but for the future as well,” Decker said.
Redemption came for ASU in their second clash Saturday night against the Maine Black Bears. Arizona State had a nearly perfect outing with impressive performances from senior pitcher Mac Osborne and sophomore catcher Shannon Cunningham.
Osborne controlled the mound for the Sun Devils, posting a career-high 10 strikeouts. It was the home team’s second time reaching the feat in four games to start the season.
“My goal is to keep the ball spinning because batters nowadays are really good at reading speed…whether it’s a ground out, pop up, or strikeout, whatever I can do to help the team is what I’m going for,” Osborne said.
Meanwhile, Cunningham led the offensive side of the ball. She went three for three with multiple scoring contributions.
She bombed a center-field two-run home run in the bottom of the second to give ASU the lead and never looked back. As a result, Shannon went on to score two more times and win player of the game.
“It’s a mentality thing. You want to compete, you want to win, and you want to help your teammates win. It’s kind of having the mentality that I don’t want to let them beat me,” Cunningham said.
For the Black Bears, the struggle stemmed from a lack of rhythm in the game, putting up only two hits and conceding seven runs in the third inning. The lone run was scored in the top of the fourth as a result of slick base running due to a pitching error. Nevertheless, Maine’s defensive slump would cut the match short to grant Arizona State a mercy-rule win.
Looking ahead for the Sun Devils, they return to play next Thursday against BYU in the Littlewood Classic tournament at home.
Leave a Reply