Sunday, April 15, 2018

Sun Devils Blank Third-ranked Ducks to Avoid Sweep


By Scott Mammoser
Giselle Juarez threw 7 strike outs in victory over #3 Ducks

TEMPE, Ariz.- Following its first two-game losing streak of the season, the No. 7 Arizona State softball team responded to shut out No. 3 Oregon, 4-0, in the final game of the three-game series at Farrington Stadium on Sunday. The win was pivotal for ASU (34-7, 8-4 in league) to keep pace with the Ducks (34-7, 9-3) in the highly-competitive Pacific-12 Conference and the possibility of hosting postseason games. Oregon won the first two games 5-0 and 9-1.

“We played our game,” ASU coach Trisha Ford said. “We made some big hits when we needed to. We strung them together, Jade (Gortatez, who was 3-for-3) had fantastic at bats today, and we had a lot of players get big-time at bats.”

Freshman first baseman Danielle Gibson opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, driving home the freshman shortstop Gortarez from third. Gortarez followed in the third inning with a solo home run to center with full count and two outs, her seventh of the season.

Jade Gortarez hit her 7th home run of season
“I came in early today and watched film,” Gortarez said. “I talked about my adjustments with the coaches. We were saying, ‘We’re not going to get swept.’”

The Sun Devils would load the bases in the bottom of the fourth, with Oregon walking home the lead runner, Ashley Moss, with one out. The Ducks would tag out the next lead runner before striking out Kindra Hackbarth to leave three ASU runners stranded.

Gortarez led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple and was driven home for the third time by junior centerfielder Morgan Howe to make it 4-0. Oregon put two runners on base in the top of the seventh, but it could not find the plate.

Sophomore pitcher Giselle Juarez threw seven strikeouts and allowed three hits in the win to improve to 18-2 on the year.

“I can totally let go of the first game,” Juarez said. “We put up some more runs, and we made some great defensive plays. That’s all I could ask for. It’s amazing (to get a shutout) because one through nine can score. It’s a confidence builder because a team like that can go deep in the Women’s College World Series.”

Infielders did their part in shutting out #3 Oregon
Three Ducks pitchers, Megan Kleist, Maggie Balint and Miranda Elish, combined for eight strikeouts, with Kleist picking up the loss (13-5). Ford praised her team for facing the three, who are all masters of different types of pitches.

“She just worried about herself and her game,” Ford added about Juarez. “She’s a special person and a special pitcher. I was really proud. As a sophomore, she was injured all last year, so this is her first go around, and it was a postseason atmosphere.”

Next weekend, the Sun Devils will host the rival No. 12 Arizona Wildcats for three games, at 5 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday and 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 22.

“It’s a great momentum builder, so I think this rivalry week is going to be huge,” ASU junior third baseman Taylor Becerra said.

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