Rolling off of Friday’s thrilling wins, the Sun Devils had some of the same magic Saturday night as they swept their doubleheader against Utah Valley and Idaho State.
Against Utah Valley, Arizona State jumped ahead early and never looked back and won 9-4 in seven innings. In game two against Idaho State, sophomore catcher Shannon Cunningham was the hero as she ripped a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning giving the Sun Devils a 5-1 victory.
In game one, the Sun Devils got the bats going early. Sophomore left fielder Yaya Acuña led off with a single, then swiped second base. The next batter was fellow sophomore outfielder Tanya Windle, who ripped a single that knocked in Acuña for the game’s first run. Two batters later Alesia Denby drove in Windle with a double, and just like that the Sun Devils led 2-0.
Four more runs came in the bottom of the second. Tanya Windle and Kelsey Hall both drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Alesia Denby then hit her sixth home run of the year and a few batters later Kayla Lissy scored on a Sara Kinch RBI single.
After Kinch’s RBI, Utah Valley’s freshman pitcher Avery Sapp’s night was done and the Wolverines called in Arizona native Halle Morris as the relief pitcher.
As the relief pitcher, Halle Morris shut down the Sun Devil offense for the most part with some help from her defense. In the fourth and fifth innings, the Sun Devils led off with a single, but both times Morris got the next batter to roll into momentum-killing double plays.
In the Sun Devils’ circle, senior Deborah Jones got the start. Through the first three innings, Jones let up no runs and struck out two Wolverines. In the top of the fourth Jones let up her first run when junior catcher Rachael Brown set a ball flying over the left field wall for a three-run home run. This ended Jones’s night.
Freshman pitcher Meika Lauppe replaced Deborah Jones and closed out the top of the fourth not allowing another Wolverine run. She went on to pitch a scoreless fifth inning. Then in the sixth, Rachael Brown came through again. This time putting the ball in the gap for an RBI double. Lauppe held the Wolverines there, but momentum was starting to swing as the Sun Devils led by only two heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Just like in the first inning, Acuña led off by reaching first base safely after an error by the Wolverines’ infield. Acuña then swiped second again and Tanya Windle brought her home with a double. A few batters later Kayla Lissy hit a single that scored Windle. Two batters after Lissy, sophomore first baseman Shannon Cunningham hit her second single of the game that drove in Alesia Denby.
Any chance of a potential Wolverine comeback was negated. Marissa Schuld came in to pitch and closed off the Wolverines on just nine pitches and the Sun Devils won 9-4. This would just be the start of Schuld’s night.
After an offensive splurge, Idaho State shut down the Sun Devils offense pretty much all of game two.
The Sun Devils scored first again in the bottom of the second when Kayla Lissy led off with a single and later stole second base. Sara Kinch then hit a fielder’s choice that scored Lissy. Freshman second baseman Libby Walsh got on base after being hit by a pitch and freshman right fielder Jada Lewis slapped a single and suddenly the bases were loaded.
Bengals’ graduate student pitcher Taylor Fitzgerald got out of the bases-loaded jam and held the Sun Devils to just a single run. Coming into today’s matchup Fitzgerald posted a 0.57 ERA over her first five starts. She carried her early season success into the circle with her against the Sun Devils. After allowing the early run, Fitzgerald went on to pitch five scoreless innings allowing only three hits.
On the other side, Marissa “Mad-Dog” Schuld started in the circle against Idaho State and also pitched a gem. She gave up no runs until senior second baseman Skyler Sethman hit an RBI double to tie to score at one in the top of the fourth. Schuld went on to pitch two more scoreless innings after that.
To start the top of the seventh senior pitcher Mac Osborne came up clutch. Osborne sat down the Bengals in order on only eight pitches. In the bottom half of the seventh, the Sun Devils had the speedy Yaya Acuña on second base with two outs. Tanya Windle had a chance to walk it off however the Bengals Taylor Fitzgerald came up clutch and pushed the game to extra innings.
Mac Osborne went out to start the top of the eighth and was lights out again. Osborne left the designated runner at third and struck out the last two batters to give the Sun Devils another shot to walk it off.
Sophomore infielder Ayden Allen came in to be the designated runner at second to start the bottom of the eight. Kelsey Hall led off and quickly moved Allen to third after grounding into a fielder’s choice. The Bengals then questionably intentionally walked both Alesia Denby and Kayla Lissy, which loaded the bases for Shannon Cunningham.
“I did not think it was a very smart choice,” Lissy said. “I knew Shannon was behind me and I knew she was gonna do something with the ball.”
The Sun Devils needed just one run, and Shannon Cunningham needed just one pitch. Cunningham launched the first pitch over the wall for a walk-off grand slam and the ballpark was sent into a frenzy.
It was the Sun Devils’ second walk-off in as many days and they moved to 4-1 in the Sun Devil Classic and pushed their season record to 11-5.
On the day the Sun Devils racked up eight stolen bases which constantly put pressure on the Wolverines and Bengals’ defense. On the flip side, the Sun Devils did not allow a single base to get stolen.
After Saturday’s doubleheader, Sun Devils head coach, Megan Bartlett, was asked how important it is to own the basepaths like they did.
“Anytime you can turn single into double and get players in scoring position it is big time,” Bartlett said. “Having to just hit a single and not put a ball in the gap to bring the runner home makes it a lot easier to score.”
The Sun Devils will close out their weekend slate with an early Sunday morning start against New Mexico State. Luckily for the team, after Sunday they get a much-needed four days rest.
They will be back in Farrington stadium on March 1 for a doubleheader against UC San Diego and James Madison to kick off the ASU Invitational.
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