By Scott Mammoser
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| 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.
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| 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.”
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| 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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