ASU Softball: Who is to Blame for Losing Streak?
After beginning the season in dominant fashion, the ASU softball team currently rides a 12-game losing streak.
The question on everyone’s mind is: Who’s to blame?
The answer: It’s more complicated than you might think.
There is no one person that is to blame for the current slump the lady sun devils are in, even though the scapegoat in these situations is always the coach/manager of the team. Instead people should be looking at two things: The competition they are playing against, and the pitching staff.
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Competition in the Pac-12 is fierce. Historically the Pac-12 and SEC have been the two dominant conferences for softball, and this year is no exception as only one team in the Pac-12 has an overall losing record. Out of the 9 schools that participate in softball, 6 teams are in the top 25 with the highest ranked team being Oregon at 6.
Being a part of a conference that is so competitive has its strengths and weaknesses. The obvious weakness is that since competition is so fierce there is no easy series in conference play, a problem that ASU is dealing with being that all 12 losses have come at the hands of conference opponents.
ASU finishes their regular season schedule at home against Stanford and then away at Oregon State. This weekend’s series will be a tell-all series as Stanford hasn’t won a conference game this season and they are the only team below Arizona State.
ASU is having problems in their pitching staff. Kelsey Kessler, a transfer student from Kansas, boast the Sun Devils lowest era with a 3.26. Outside of Kessler, the three remaining pitchers who have made appearances have a combined era of 5.35 compared to opponent pitchers having an average era of 5.10.
This lack of production from all but Kessler explains why during this 12 game losing streak ASU has given up an average of 7.42 runs a game. It is difficult for any team to win games when you have to rely on your hitting lineup scoring at least 7 runs a game to equal the amount of runs your pitching staff is giving up.
Overall, this season will be remembered as a productive season for ASU softball. They can look themselves in the mirror and see that they need help when it comes to pitching. Strong recruiting and a change in the pitching coach are two ways that this team may be able to get back on track and get back to their dominating ways that everyone is used to seeing from ASU softball.