ASU Softball: The Pitching Staff is Key to Successful Season

The ASU softball team posted a 3-2 record in the Mary Nutter classic this past weekend. It is becoming evident that if the Sun Devils want to be successful they will have to get continued success from the pitching circle.

All four of ASU softball’s pitchers, Dale Ryndak, Breanna Macha, Giselle Juarez and Alyssa Loza, have all been spectacular thus far. Ryndak started out the season with a perfect game, and the three other pitchers have all had quality outings. For the 2017 season, the sky is the limit for the Sun Devils as long as they continue to get quality innings from their pitching staff.

ASU won’t have an issue scoring runs, they consistently have one of the top lineups in the Pac-12, but in a very competitive conference pitching is what is going to give you the edge over your opponents.

Making sure that the pitching rotation gets into a rhythm will be critical to their success. While head coach Trisha Ford does want to be aware of matchups, having the availability to get your pitchers into a set schedule is a commodity in softball and something that shouldn’t be taken for granted. If Ford has that availability, then it is important that she takes advantage of it.

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If Ford does take advantage of getting her pitchers in some sort of rotation, then it will give them adequate rest between starts. One of Arizona State’s problems last season was that they didn’t have any sort of rotation and they relied on Kelsey Kessler too much. That led to her inevitably getting tired and leading to an early exit in the regional round of the postseason.

For ASU, pitching will determine how this season turns out. If the pitching staff continues to perform at their current level then we may be looking at a team that can make a deep run in the 2017 NCAA Women’s College World Series. If the pitching staff fades during Pac-12 play, then we may be looking at a team that will be sitting on their couch come June.

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