ASU Softball: Sun Devils crush Stanford, clinch series

After a walk-off win Friday, ASU softball clinched the series Saturday night defeating Stanford in mercy-rule fashion 8-0.

Two weeks ago, the trajectory for ASU seemed to be falling. But that has changed drastically, and the Sun Devils have now won six in a row.

Led by a strong performance on the mound from Breanna Macha, ASU clinched the series against Stanford, winning by a score of 8-0. The Sun Devils are now 41-9 this season and 14-6 in Pac-12 play.

ASU head coach Trisha Ford said she was a lot more pleased with Saturday’s performance than the series opener.

“Much happier with our performance,” Ford said. “We came up in that box and did some damage, so I was very happy about the response to our friendly talk last night.”

Arizona State was dominant at the plate, scoring eight runs, and the Sun Devils needed only five innings to finish the Cardinal.

More from Devils in Detail

Kindra Hackbarth and Danielle Gibson hit their fourth and 12th home runs, respectively, contributing to the rout. Additionally, six of the batters in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit.

Gibson has been a freshman sensation this season, batting .377, but she mentioned a recent slump at the plate. Tonight she was 1-for-3, and Gibson said she hopes it is the end of the skid.

“I just saw an inside pitch, and that was my plan,” Gibson said. “I just turned and I was on time, so I definitely stuck to my plan right there, and it felt good to be back.”

In the circle, Macha was fantastic.

She allowed only two hits in the win and pitched for all five innings. The win was her 14th of the season and her second of the weekend.

Macha said her comfortability in the circle contributed to her excellent performance.

“I came out here playing loose and playing my game,” Macha said. “It kinda is like a reality check. Just go out there and have fun with it.”

Aside from a Taylor Becerra error on the first Stanford at-bat of the game, the fielding was stellar in the win. This was a vast improvement from Friday in which the Sun Devils committed six errors in the field.

Becerra said a big part of the team’s improvement in the field came from forgetting about their miscues.

“It just happens,” Becerra said. You just have to flush it because the ball’s going to come to you the next play.”

ASU will attempt to complete the sweep Sunday against the Cardinal. The game will begin at 1 p.m. PT and it is the final home game of the season.

The game will be senior night, and Macha is one of six seniors on the roster, and she said she has mixed feelings about her last regular season home game.

Next: ASU Softball: Sun Devils walk-off Stanford in series opener

“Kind of excited, kind of sad,” Macha said. “We were watching the fireworks last night, and almost all the seniors cried. It’s a toss-up.”

All quotes in this article were obtained firsthand by Devils in Detail unless otherwise noted.

Home/ASU Softball