TEMPE — Cheers rained throughout Alberta B. Farrington Stadium when No. 23 Arizona State (19-3) secured the final out of its dominant weekend with a 2-1 victory over CSU Bakersfield (2-18) on Sunday afternoon.
The win marked the first time the Sun Devils finished undefeated at the ASU Invitational and extended Sparky’s winning streak to six games.
“Certainly happy we came out on the right side,” Coach Megan Bartlett said.
“Saturdays and Sundays, I think run together at this point, but it was certainly nice to go 6-0.”
Of the six games played in the tournament, Sunday’s game may have proved to be the toughest for the Maroon and Gold, who faced the Roadrunners for only the second time in program history.
Behind a strong defensive effort and a dominant outing from senior left-handed pitcher Aissa Silva, Arizona State held its opponents hitless through three innings, bottling up the Roadrunners’ offense, which struggled throughout the weekend.
She ultimately surrendered just one run across 6 2/3 innings, recording seven strikeouts.
As ASU’s pitching staff warmed up, the offense found rhythm and got key hits: freshman catcher/infielder Avery Motroni opened the scoring, coming home to score by way of a single from senior outfielder Kaylee Pond. Junior catcher Samantha Swan extended the lead in the following inning, scoring on an RBI single into left field by senior infielder Brooklyn Ulrich.
The Sun Devils tallied 54 runs in six games during the weekend. On Sunday, however, Bartlett’s side collected its second-fewest number of runs in a game, and its fewest since losing to No. 3 Oklahoma on Feb. 5.
“The bats went off this weekend,” Bartlett said. “Got a little dry today, but certainly no complaints.”
After being held scoreless for much of the game — and sensing a fatigued Silva under the hot Tempe sun — CSU Bakersfield broke through in the seventh inning. Senior utility player Aileen Balderas’ single RBI in the seventh inning cut the deficit to one run. With two outs and loaded bases, junior right-handed pitcher Meika Lauppe relieved Silva in the circle to close out the game for Sparky.
“It’s hot, and she (Silva) just started to lose control a little bit,” Bartlett said. “She was fatigued, she was just working at a pretty quick pace, and it’s 90 out.”
Lauppe pitched twice before forcing a ground ball to second base, clinching the victory for ASU and surviving the late scare.
ASU opens Big 12 action next weekend, as the team hosts Utah for a three-game series, with the first clash scheduled for March 6 at 6 p.m. MST.
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