Sun Devils mercy rule Stanford on eve of Senior Day

By Scott Mammoser

TEMPE, Ariz. – The No. 8-ranked Arizona State softball team breezed past Stanford, 8-0, in five innings on Saturday night, with home runs off the bats of Danielle Gibson and Kindra Hackbarth. It was the sixth-consecutive win for ASU (41-9, 14-6 Pacific-12), while Stanford fell to 23-28 and 2-18.

“We came into that box and did some damage,” ASU coach Trisha Ford said. “Sometimes we rush things. This game is made to be played fast, but it can’t be played quickly. You have to understand the rhythm and make sure you are playing that same rhythm.”

Coach Ford laughed that she was much more pleased with Saturday’s victory than Friday’s 4-3 seventh-inning comeback win that had six errors.  

The Sun Devils scored their first six runs with two outs over the first two innings. In the bottom of the first, a Morgan Howe double scored Taylor Becerra, and Jade Gortarez produced a two-run triple. To begin the second, Stanford put its first two runners on base, and they would ultimately be thrown out at home. ASU left fielder Skylar McCarty contradicted the trend by beating a throw to home with two outs in the bottom of the second. The next pitch ended over the center field fence - a two-run Danielle Gibson home run, her 12^th of the year.

ASU's Danielle Gibson scores big at the plate and at first base.

“I had been struggling a little bit at the plate lately,” Gibson said. “I turned on time and stuck to my plan and it felt good. It was a regular inside pitch. I tell myself not to swing at a change up and wait for a hard pitch.”

Kindra Hackbarth added a lead-off solo shot on her first pitch in the bottom of the fourth. Becerra, the junior third baseman, ended up 3-for-3 with three runs, while Gortarez was 2-for-2. Breanna Macha threw four strikeouts and allowed two hits (to Stanford’s Whitney Burks and Molly Fowkes) on the mound. Macha, from Mesa Red Mountain High School, headlines ASU’s senior class this year.

“It’s senior weekend, so we want to come out here and have fun,” Macha said. “I’ve made great relationships with the girls on the team. These are going to be life-long friends; I always say that, girls who are going to be in my wedding. I couldn’t ask for better teammates.”

Danielle after her walk-off double for the win.

The Sun Devils’ final regular season home game is at 1 p.m. on Sunday against the Cardinal, before they travel to No. 1 UCLA for three games May 10-12. ASU is comfortably in position to host a regional the following week.

“To see what they’ve done for this program, it speaks high volume for what kind of kids they are, not players, but people,” Ford said. “Macha is somebody who I would go into battle with her day in and day out. I want them to play the game the way it’s supposed to be played. At the end of the day, they are the ones who are responsible for us being in this situation.”