ASU Softball: Pitching, hitting woes continue in loss vs. UCLA

ASU softball battled for four innings against No. 1 UCLA, but the Sun Devils couldn’t contain a potent Bruins lineup falling 9-0 in six innings.

The struggles continued for No. 21 Arizona State as they suffered their fifth consecutive shutout loss.

Arizona State, after getting run-ruled 10-0 in five innings Friday night, played a competitive game versus No. 1 UCLA trailing 2-0 entering the fifth inning.

But then the Bruins began crushing the ball against pitcher Cielo Meza, who came on in relief for starter Abby Andersen.

Meza allowed three home runs in the final two innings, a two-run homer to Bruins catcher Taylor Pack, a three-run homer to outfielder Bubba Nickles and a two-run homer to designated player Aaliyah Jordan leading to the 9-0, run-rule defeat for the Sun Devils.

“We had better at bats early on and we had people on,” head coach Trisha Ford said. “We’re doing some good things and then from the fifth inning on, we kind of went back our comfort zone that’s been here for the last couple of games.”

More from Devils in Detail

UCLA opened the scoring in the first inning on an RBI double from Pack, who finished the game with three extra base hits, three RBIs and one run scored.

Andersen struggled with command in her 13th start of the season as she threw just 2.1 innings allowing two runs on four hits and four walks.

Meza pitched well until running into the Bruins lineup a second time around. After allowing three home runs Saturday, Meza has now allowed 11 home runs this season.

“Top to bottom, they (UCLA) are all over .300 (batting average). It’s a lethal lineup, but we left some balls over the plate that they took advantage of,” Ford said. “Our walks hurt us again today so that part we need to get better.”

For the Bruins, they had the reigning National Player of the Year, pitcher Rachel Garcia, in the circle for her first appearance of the series.

Garcia dazzled throwing a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits, walking two and striking out 12 Sun Devils in route to her 15th win of the season.

ASU had their chances against Garcia, but batted 0-for-7 with runners on and 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

However, a positive takeaway would be the at-bats ASU put together against Garcia, who finished the game throwing 116 pitches.

“We were playing for each other better, we had better focus, we had better at bats,” Ford said. “We had some runners on base a lot. We just got to get that one hit. There was a lot of things to build upon, it’s now just getting over the hump.”

After huddling in left field following Saturday’s defeat, the team knows they are close to turning things around as they push through the Pac-12 gauntlet.

The Sun Devils will look to claim the series finale Sunday afternoon before heading to Seattle to face another top-10 team in Washington next weekend.

Next. ASU Softball: No. 1 UCLA dominates Sun Devils in game one. dark

“We’re going to grow from this,” Ford said. “But we’re also going to be able to pull from these last two series later on in the season to really help us through some things.”

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

Home/ASU Softball