ASU Softball: Sun Devils battle Oregon in top-10 showdown
By Sam Ficarro
Sixth-ranked ASU softball hosts No. 3 Oregon in a top-10 Pac-12 showdown as the Sun Devils begin their biggest homestand of the season.
Arizona State begins their most exciting stretch of the season opening a six-game homestand against No. 3 Oregon Friday.
The seventh-ranked Sun Devils are coming a series win over then-No. 25 Oregon State, with the series finale going to the Sun Devils in 15 innings.
G Juarez threw a complete game in Sunday’s finale throwing a season-high 208 pitches in 15 innings of work striking out 15 Beavers in the 2-1 win.
Arizona State split the series-opening doubleheader against Oregon State run-ruling the Beavers 10-1 in the first game and falling in the second 4-2.
The Sun Devils will now welcome in the third-ranked Oregon Ducks for a three-game series with the Ducks coming off a series sweep of then-No. 8 Arizona last weekend.
Oregon won the first game of the series 5-2 and went on to run-rule the Wildcats in the next two games shutting out U of A 8-0 and 10-0.
Ducks catcher Gwen Svekis earned Pac-12 Player of the Week recording six hits and two home runs in the three-game series. Svekis is Oregon’s most productive hitter with a team-high 11 home runs and 38 RBIs.
Pitcher Miranda Elish dethroned Juarez as Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week ending her four week run. Elish threw the first seven-inning perfect game in school history last Tuesday against Portland State tallying a career-high 16 strikeouts.
She was just as effective against Arizona throwing a six-inning complete-game shutout Saturday striking out 13 Wildcats.
On paper, these are two evenly-matched teams as the Ducks and the Sun Devils rank third and fourth in the Pac-12 in runs scored with Oregon having the edge by 18 runs.
In the circle, Oregon ranks second in team ERA (1.02) with Arizona State just behind them in third (1.17). Ducks also edge out the Sun Devils slightly in opposing batting average (.162 versus .171).
To continue the second-third ranking theme, in the latest RPI rankings, Oregon is No. 2 with Arizona State right behind them at No. 3.
It should be three hotly-contested games this weekend in Tempe as the two teams sit tied for second in the Pac-12 with a 7-2 conference record.
Next: ASU Softball: Sun Devils edge out Beavers in 15 innings
First pitch Friday is set for 7 p.m. PT, Saturday’s first pitch is at 6 p.m. PT and Sunday’s first pitch is at noon PT. All games can be seen on the ASU Live Stream.